....<■„., 



as: 



The Bible Study Union Lessons 




The 



Conquering Christ 






Class 

Book 

Copyright IS . 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: 



THE BIBLE STUDY UNION LESSONS 
SENIOR GRADE 



THE 

CONQUERING CHRIST 



BY 



ILSLEY BOONE, S.T.M. 




Phimf A. Nordeli,; D.D., Editor 
Frank K. Sanders, D.D., Ph.D. ) 
George E. Horr, D.D. [ r „„ e „ u -„ -cau^* 

Charles F. Kent, Ph.D. f Consulitng Editors 

George A. Coe, Ph.D., LL.D. ) 

Robert E. Blakeslee, Managing Editor 



BIBLE STUDY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

250 Devonshire Street, Boston 



tN* 



bio 



Copyright, 1909, 1910, by the 
Bible Study Publishing Co., Boston 



©CI.A273412 



FOREWORD. 

The greatest concern of the people of the world to-day is 
religion. For this they make the largest sacrifices and to this 
they give, the largest proportion of their time and thought. 
We comprehend in this statement every form of religion be- 

^lieved in and practised by the races of the world. 
The religions of the world constitute together the over- 
mastering force directing and controlling men in their social, 
intellectual and national development. All races have been 
made what they are by the molding power of their beliefs. 

As never before in the history of mankind we, as a nation, 
are studying great international problems. The commercial 
world is investigating the developing Oriental trade, the 
diplomatic world the national emergence of the Asiatics, and 
the Christian world is inquiring diligently regarding the re- 
ligious faiths and practices of the non-Christian races. 

The greatest and most timely subject for investigation and 
study is the subject of religion and the greatest conquests yet to 
be won on earth will be won in the realm of religion. This 
supreme conquest is now in process and constitutes in itself a 
new Acts of the Apostles covering the century and embracing 
the nations of the earth. 

As absolute proof of the resistless power of the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ, as an assurance that this Gospel comprises in 
itself the essentials of all religions, but more than this, that 
it adequately reveals the mind and heart of God as shown in 
the Christ revealed for a world redemption, for inspiring the 
world vision demanded by our times, for creating a world 
sympathy demanded by our new international contacts, and 
for leading to world effort demanded by our imperial Chris- 
tian faith, these lessons hold supreme place. 

No conceivable topic or series of topics could be more preg- 
nant with interest, information, inspiration and an abiding 
faith, than these lessons covering the great religions of the 
world and placing upon His throne of divine supremacy the 
" Conquering Christ." 

Rev. James L. Barton, D.D., 

Secretary American Board of Commissioners 
for Foreign Missions, Boston. 

Hi 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION. 

Pages 
Foreword ........... iii 

Table of Contents .......... iv-vi 

Character and Method of the Course ....... vii 

Directions for Study ......... viii 



Part I. 



LESSON TITLES AND SUBJECTS. 
NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS AND CHRISTIANITY COMPARED. 



S 



A presentation of their principal tenets, their ethical value, their power for good 
or evil, the character of their adherents, the ground they afford for a Christian ap- 
proach, and the points at which they prove inferior to Christianity. 



Lesson 1. 



Lesson 2. 



Lesson 3. 



Lesson 4. 



Lesson 5. 



Lesson 6. 



Lesson 7. 



Lesson 



Lesson 



Lesson 10. 



Lesson 11. 



f Lesson 12. 



Lesson 13. 



Religion in General. 

Its Universality and Purpose 
The Religion of the Hindus. 

The Bondage of India .... 

Reform Movements in Hinduism. 

A Struggle for Freedom .... 
The Teaching of Buddha. 

A Religion of Pessimism .... 
A Chinese Philosopher and his Work. 

Lao Tzu and Taoism ..... 
Confucius and his Followers. 

A Religion of Ethics ..... 
Shintoism, the Native Religion of Japan. 

Its Influence in the Sunrise Kingdom 
The Monotheism of Israel. 

A Study of Modern Judaism 
The Prophet of Allah. 

Beliefs and Fruits of Mohammedanism . 
A Degenerate Christianity. 

Catholicism in Latin America 
Minor Religions of Mission Lands. 

Forces which Cannot be Neglected 
The Gospel of a New Era. 

Present World Status of Christianity 
Religious Values and Forces. 

Review of the Comparative Study of Religions 

iv 



13 



20 



27 



33 



40 



47 



54 



61 



67 



74 



80 



Table of Contents v 

Part II. MODERN PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY. 

A sketch of its extension among the nations of the world; of the geographical, 
social and religious characteristics of the several fields; of the various problems that 
arise and of the manner in which the missionaries meet them; and -finally of the 
present opportunities and outlook — the whole introducing at appropriate points 
concise biographies of notable missionary heroes. 



* Lesson 14. The Problems of Africa. 

The Country, People, Language, and Political Conditions 85 

/Lesson 15. The Redemption of Africa. 

Christian Forces in the Dark Continent .... 92 

Lesson 16. The Struggle in India. 

The Gospel in Contact with Hinduism .... 99 

Lesson 17. Burma and Assam. 

Work where the Message is Welcome .... 106 
Lesson 18. The Awakening of China. 

Influence of the Occident upon the Orient . . .113 

Lesson 19. The Winning of China. 

Christianity upon Chinese Territory . . . .119 

Lesson 20. The Conflict in Japan. 

Christianity vs. a Self-satisfied Atheism . . .126 

Lesson 21. The Glad Story of Korea. 

Open Doors to the Hermit Nation . .... 132 

Lesson 22. At the Ottoman Gates. 

Christianity in the Turkish Empire .... 139 

Lesson 23. Christian Occupation of Persia. 

Prospects of the Work among Shi'ite Mohammedans . 146 

Lesson 24. Among the Islands of the Sea. 

Oceanica as a Mission Field ...... 153 

Lesson 25. European Mission Fields. 

Religious Conditions in the Greek, Roman and Protestant 

Sections ........ 160 

Lesson 26. Christianity in the Eastern Hemisphere. 

A Review of Asiatic and European Missions . . .166 

Lesson 27. Protestantism in South America. 

Complex Conditions affecting Missionary Work . . 171 

Lesson 28. In the Land of the Aztecs. 

Gospel Opportunities in Mexico . . . . .178 

Lesson 29. Cuba and Porto Rico. 

Political, Industrial, and Religious Improvement of the 

Islands 185 

Lesson 30. Christian Forces in the Philippines. 

Breaking the Bondage of Superstition .... 191 
Lesson 31. The Negro Problem in America. 

Christian Contributions toward its Solution . . . 198 

Lesson 32. Mountain Missions of the South. 

Encouraging Work among an Isolated People . . . 205 

Lesson 33. The Foreign Invasion. 

Religious Phases of the Immigrant Problem . . 212 

Lesson 34. The Work in Modern Babel. 

Reaching the Alien Population of our Cities . . . 218 



VI 



Introduction 



Lesson 35. The Greater West. 

Its Future in the Making .... 
Lesson 36. Missions for Men of the Sea. 

Work Ashore and Afloat .... 
Lesson 37. The Children of Israel. 

Features of Christian Work among the Jews . 
Lesson 38. Unevangelized Areas. 

Vast Regions yet Unreached by Christian Forces 
Lesson 39. Christianity in the Western Hemisphere. 

A Review of American Missions . 



225 
232 
239 
246 
252 



Part in. PRINCIPLES OF MISSIONARY PRACTICE AND FRUITS OF 
CHRISTIAN CONQUEST. 

An outline of the policies of the mission boards; of the kinds of work pursued and 
the specific value thereof ; of the relation of the home church to the entire problem, and 
a consideration of individual Christian obligation in the light both of the need and 
the opportunity ; the whole emphasizing some of the chief consequences of the Chris- 
tian missionary enterprise. 

I. Principles of Missionary Practice. 
Lesson 40. Missionary Preaching. 

The Evangelistic Message and Method .... 257 
Lesson 41. The Power of Medical Missions. 

Healing the Body as Well as the Soul .... 263 
Lesson 42. Training the Mind, Hand and Heart. 

A Vast Educational System 270 

Lesson 43. Interdenominational Co-operation. 

The Spirit of Comity and Union . ... . .278 

Lesson 44. The Church and the Mission Problem. 

Value and Function of Organized Missionary Agencies . 285 
Lesson 45. Modern Missionary Movements. 

Reawakening the Church to her Task .... 292 

2. Fruits of Christian Conquest. 
Lesson 46. Science and Missions. 

Indebtedness of the Former to the Latter . . . 298 

Lesson 47. Reflex Action on the Home Church. 

A Quickened Spirituality ...... 304 

Lesson 48. Individual Renewal of Life. 

The Sufficiency of Christ as Redeemer .... 310 
Lesson 49. Social Regeneration. 

Power of Christianity to Purify Society . . . 316 

Lesson 50. Molding National Destinies. 

How they are Affected by the Missionary Enterprise . 322 

Lesson 51. The World Kingdom of Christ. 

Its Characteristics and its Cost ..... 327 
Lesson 52. What Christian Missions Accomplish. 

Review of Methods and Results ..... 334 



APPENDIX. 

Glossary of the More Unusual Terms Used in the Lessons 



i, u 



Character and Method of the Course vii 

CHARACTER AND METHOD OF THE COURSE. 

Note 1. Purpose. It is now a generally accepted idea that 
a complete religious education should include, in addition to 
Biblical knowledge, some familiarity with the doctrines, his- 
torical developments, great men and modern problems of the 
church. In keeping with this idea the Bible Study Union 
provides herewith a course on the modern extension of Chris- 
tianity, designed for advanced students. As the pupil ap- 
proaches maturity nothing is more impressive than facts; 
they arouse interest, command respect and inspire loyalty 
Such vital facts as are here presented may be trusted to make 
their own appeal. 

Note 2. Scope. The course is a study of conditions and 
movements on the mission field, regarding as the field the 
whole world. Thus foreign missions and home missions, so- 
called, are impartially treated. Yet foreign conditions are so 
varied, the countries so numerous, their religions so hard to 
understand and to appreciate, that much fuller treatment has 
been demanded with respect to missions abroad than with 
respect to missions at home. 

In the brief compass of fifty-two lessons much of historical 
interest has had to be ruthlessly eliminated. An outline of 
the present situation, a statement of what the church is doing 
now and a presentation of the great missionary issues which 
the church is .facing to-day have been regarded as of greater 
value than a record of the past. 

Note 3. Method. The method ftf dealing with the subject 
has been largely determined by the subject matter itself. In- 
asmuch as the studies have been written primarily for schools 
and classes of evangelical Christian bodies, chief emphasis has 
been centred upon the work of these Christian forces. With- 
in such limitation the writer and editors have endeavored to 
be absolutely fair and open minded, and the publishers have 
been gratified that many words of highest commendation 
have come from some of the foremost Christian leaders. 

It is to be hoped that the volume, while unqualifiedly assert- 
ing the unique excellence of Christianity, will, by its fair treat- 
ment of the non-Christian beliefs, further a fraternal and 
sympathetic spirit of world-wide reach in the hearts of all who 
may study or read its pages. 



viii Introduction 



DIRECTIONS FOR STUDY. 



This course can render its full value to the student only 
when these directions are carefully followed. 

1. Read the Scripture selection thoughtfully, to catch its 
missionary import. 

2. Read the lesson over, section by section, pausing between 
the several sections to let the mind dwell on the facts set forth. 
Review the contents of each paragraph mentally. Until this 
has been done do not look at the " Questions on the Lesson." 

3. Formulate a clear and concise answer to each of the 
" Questions on the Lesson," and write it down. 

4. Study for yourself some one point suggested by the lesson 
and in which you are particularly interested. This may be 
a belief, a religious rite, a custom, a temple, a heathen deity, a 
biography or some historic event. Whatever it is, study it 
carefully. Make this course contribute to your fund of general 
knowledge. 

5. Make note of one or two of the best questions that come 
to you as you study the lesson, and bring them up for dis- 
cussion in the class. If no questions come to you, study the 
lesson again and think harder. 

6. Be loyal to the class in the preparation of assigned work. 
If near a public library, avail yourself fully of its privileges. 
Make good use of the catalogues, or indexes, to periodicals, 
as within five years many magazine articles bearing on the 
subjects of this course have appeared. 

7. Keep a note-book and pencil at hand both in the class 
and while at study. In this note-book write (i) The general 
summary of each lesson, or other general assignment work; 
(2) any special assignment made to you individually; (j) 
results of further investigation of any point, and additional 
questions which may arise in class or in study. Such note- 
book work is indispensable if best results are to be obtained. 

8. Ponder carefully the personal thought. 

9.' Read these suggestions over frequently. More impor- 
tant, put them into practice. 



THE CONQUERING CHRIST 

PART I 

Non-Christian Religions and Christianity Compared 



Preliminary Note. Before beginning the study ot the lessons read the Foreword, the 
Introductory Notes and the outline of the course as presented in the Lesson Titles 
and Subjects. Finally read also the Directions for Study, and follow them closely. 

Lesson 1. RELIGION IN GENERAL. Its Universality and 

Purpose. 

Scripture Reading: The Age-long Pursuit. Acts 17:22-30. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the nature, universality, and 
purpose of religion in its most general sense, and to note some of the 
agreements and differences in the great religions of the world, and in 
particular the relation which Christianity sustains to other faiths. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Religion Defined. A belief in the existence of a world 
of invisible beings who are capable of influencing human life for good 
or evil has been one of the most dominant forces in the history of 
mankind. The fortunes of cities and of states have hung on the 
popularity of their patron deities. Generally these beings are con- 
sidered to be superior to man in power and intelligence. If their 
disposition is regarded as friendly, it has been supposed that their 
help could be won by suitable offerings, usually of food, or by accept- 
able sacrifice, frequently of animals; if unfriendly, it was thought that 
by similar means they might be propitiated, and their power for evil 
warded off. Religion accordingly contains two elements — the inner 
feeling or religious impulse, and the outward expression of that feeling 
or impulse in creeds, ceremonies, worship, and above all in life and 
conduct. In its most general meaning, then, religion may be defined 
as man's consciousness of relation to a realm of being beyond the reach 
of human senses, and the expression of this consciousness in worship, 
customs, rites, institutions and personal conduct. 

Note 3. The Universality of Religion. So far as our knowledge 
goes, religion appears to be universal. Travelers have sometimes 
reported that certain savage tribes have no religious beliefs. Yet 



2 The Conquering Christ SeU Grade 

these people are described as burying implements with their dead, or 
as employing charms for bringing good luck in war or in hunting. 
Fundamentally, these practices are religious and betray a belief in 
unseen powers. And no tribes have ever been reported who did not 
manifest some such token of belief in spiritual powers and the possible 
continuance of existence in the spirit world. 

Note 4. The Twofold Purpose of Religion. The twofold purpose 
of religion is to reveal the nature of the Infinite, and through that 
revelation to influence conduct and life. The Hebrew sage understood 
the relation of religion to life when he said, "As a man thinketh in 
his heart, so is he." What a man believes concerning God must 
determine his actions toward men. Thus among different peoples 
the religion becomes inextricably bound up with civic institutions 
of the state or with the social constitution of society, with patriotism, 
ethical ideals, the institutions of marriage and the family. Of course, 
through human perversity and misunderstanding, religion often 
fails to enlist human interests in behalf of the highest and best. In 
some men the religious impulse comes to almost perfect fruition while 
in others it struggles against adverse circumstances and environment 
at last producing some fantastic or dwarfed conception of the Infinite. 
In the African it becomes the germination plot for a host of super- 
stitious fears, in the Israelite a sensitive understanding flashing back 
a ready response to the suggestion that God is a righteous King and 
Father. But in African and Israelite alike the purpose of religion is 
to control conduct as well as to reveal the nature of the Unseen. In 
proportion as it reveals God and through that revelation makes for 
a new humanity, so far does religion fulfil its purpose. 

Note 5. Varying Forms of Religious Expression. A number of 
factors have entered into the determination of the widely varying 
forms of religious expression with which we are to-day acquainted. 
Among these factors have been topographical features of the land, 
temperamental characteristics of the people, flora and fauna of the 
country, etc. Thus people isolated by high mountains or the sea 
will develop a religion peculiar to themselves. The hill tribes of 
Assam are wholly different in their religious thought from the natives 
of southern India. The metaphysical and literary mind of the Brah- 
man does not content itself with charms and fetiches such as delight 
and, in a measure, satisfy the African negro. In Egypt the crop- 
giving Nile was identified with the god of the Nile and as such became 
an object of veneration. Among the devotees of Buddha, numerous 
animals, especially the bull, are to-day regarded as worthy of worship, 



LesS Q% e Religion in General 3 

while about the lotus flower there clusters, throughout the Orient, a 
host of sacred associations. Many other illustrations might be cited 
but these are sufficient to show how men in different places and under 
different circumstances have sought to come to some understanding 




Stonehenge, Ruins of a Druid Temple. 

The Druids were a class of priests among the ancient Gauls and Britons. Remains of several of their 
unroofed, circular temples are scattered about England. Stonehenge, in Salisbury Plain, is the most 
famous. Its outer circle, 300 feet in circumference, was composed of upright 6tones 16 feet in height and 
18 feet in diameter. Human sacrifice constituted part of the ritual of Druids. 

of the nature and purposes of God. In this search of the ages, some 
have made greater and better discoveries than others, and have 
approached nearer to God than their less fortunate fellows. Hence 
the religious status of man to-day presents the spectacle of many 
different people seeking God by many different paths — some divergent 
and some tending sooner or later to meet. 

Note 6. Agreements and Differences among Religions. Certain 
characteristics, more or less common to all the religions of the world, 
may be called the fundamentals of religion. Among these are faith, 
or the acceptance of certain undemonstrable facts as true, reverence, 
belief in a spirit world, fear of evil powers, endeavor to please or 
placate superior powers, the relating of religion to social and civic 
customs and institutions. Practically all these characteristics are 
directly traceable to the primary element of religion, consciousness 
of relation to being beyond the reach of human senses. 

But each religion of the world likewise presents certain features 
which are peculiar or unique. Such are the nature and manner of 
certain rites and ceremonies : of prayer, whether by bowing or kneeling ; 
of sacrifice, whether of grain or animals; of worship, whether ornate 
or simple. These features constitute the accidentals of religion. 
They tend to become permanent and are at times of great importance 
to the student or missionary, for not infrequently the accidentals of 



4 The Conquering Christ Sen G? a de 

religion bind a man more closely and determine his actions more 
rigidly than do the fundamentals, as, for instance, in the caste system 
of Hinduism. It is, however, on the basis of the fundamentals of re- 
ligion that we can discover something of unity underlying all the dis- 
torted and partially successful efforts to understand the great Unseen. 

Note 7. Christianity in its Relation to the Non-Christian Religions. 

In view of the deep-rooted agreements among all religions it is apparent 
that the attitude of Christianity to the non-Christian religions should 
be one of sympathetic helpfulness, carrying to the non-Christian 
world the message that what the nations have been seeking, and in 
some degree have found, is revealed in fulness and beauty in Chris- 
tianity. The student of Christian missions will no longer approach 
his subject to discover all the evil of heathenism but will rather seek 
to gain a clear knowledge of the religions with which Christianity 
comes into contact, and will see in some of their excellencies the very 
grounds of approach upon which the Christian missionary can advance 
a claim for Christianity's right to be heard. On the basis of the 
fundamentals of religion, Christianity can invite adherents of all 
other religions to an appreciative consideration of its claims. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Purpose and value of a comparative study of religions. Clarke : 
Ten Great Religions, vol. i, pp. 1-4. (2) The universality of prayer 
and of religion. Jevons : Introduction to Comparative Religion, pp. 
160-171. (3) The relation of Christianity to the future religious 
development of the Orient. Hall: Universal Elements of the Christian 
Religion, pp. 41-52. (4) The possible contribution of the Orient to 
Christian thought. Ibid., pp. 53-55. (J) Fetichism, one of the crudest 
forms of religious belief. See any good Encyclopedia, especially Bliss, 
Encyc. of Missions. 

PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the purpose of this course? 2. What is the scope of 
the present study? 3. What is the method pursued? 4. Which 
one of the " Directions for Study" do you consider most helpful? 
Why? 5. What is the title of this lesson ? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is religion? (Note 2.) 



2. What effect has religion had upon history? Dlustrate. 



Less o% e Religion in General 5 

3. What is the extent of the religious impulse among men? (Note 
3.) 



4. On what evidence is the reply based i 



5. What is the twofold purpose of religion? (Note 4.) 



6. What factors help to determine the forms of religious expression? 
(Note 5.) 



7. To what extent do these factors modify expressions of 
Christianity ? 



8. What common characteristics do all religions possess? (Note 6.) 



9. What do we mean by the accidentals of religion ? Mention some. 



10. Wherein can we discover a unity underlying all religions i 



11. What estimate would you place on the value of non-Christian 
religions ? 



12. What is the Christian attitude toward the non-Christian 
religions? (Note 7.) 



6 The Conquering Christ Sen ch- r a de 

13. How does this attitude affect the task of the missionary? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. To what extent is there a divine element in non-Christian reli- 
gions? 2. To what extent is there a human element in Christianity? 
3. To what extent does the clearer revelation carry with it an added 
obligation? 4. How far is the Christian world morally responsible 
for the purification and uplift of non-Christian faiths? 5. What is 
the relation between the responsibility of the Christian world and 
the responsibility of the Christian individual ? 

Mission Gem. " The ancient beliefs and customs of the non- 
Christian peoples are destined soon to pass away; and it becomes a 
matter of supreme importance to see that new and better moral and 
religious principles are given to them promptly to replace what is 
disappearing." — James Bryce. 

Personal Thought. The universal brotherhood of man should 
dictate a sympathetic attitude toward every sincere effort to know 
God. As a Christian, or at least as a member of a Christian com- 
munity, am I as charitable toward the religious beliefs and ideas of 
others as I ought to be? 



Lesson 2. THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. The 
Bondage of India. 

(Read "Directions for Study," in Introduction, p. viii.) 
Scripture Reading: Jesus and Caste Distinctions. Mt. 9: 10-13. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To set forth the nature of Hinduism 
in both creed and practice, the characteristics of the caste system, 
with its blighting effect upon human life, and to point out certain con- 
trasts between Hinduism and Christianity. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. The Origin and Nature of Hinduism. Many centuries ago 
the religion of India was known as Brahmanism. The chief god was 
Brahma and the priests of the religion were known as Brahmans. 
The religion was very ritualistic, consisting almost wholly of form and 
ceremony, and many of its sacrificial rites were spectacular, extravagant, 
and even bloody. The ambition of the Brahmans was to make their 
religion acceptable to all the people of India, and to this end, at an 
early day, many of the original ideas of Brahmanism ceased to be 



Less °rwo The Religion of the Hindus 7 

emphasized, while any number of tribal religious ideas were engrafted 
into the system. At a somewhat later period the priests were glad 
to adopt some of the beliefs of the growing cult of Buddhism, later 
appropriated a number of the beliefs of Christianity, and, later still, 
certain tenets of Mohammedanism. The result of all these religious 
accretions and modifications is what we call Hinduism. The three 
chief deities of Hinduism are Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu. The last 
named is popularly worshiped in northern India as Krishna, his 
eighth incarnation, and the most immoral character in all the Hindu 
pantheon. This religion has been likened to an old house that has 
had one new part after another added on until the original structure 
is lost in the maze of newer structures of various ages and designs. 

Thus Hinduism contains numerous ideas which seem to be directly 
contradictory one to the other, and faithful Hindus may hold very 
diverse creeds. On the one hand are those who hold a most super- 
stitious belief in the potency of charms, magic formulas, and idolatry, 
and on the other hand those who ridicule all superstition and formal 
worship, holding that the chief aim of the religious life is to under- 
stand certain subtle and abstruse theories concerning God, the universe, 
and life. Hinduism is a broad mantle covering many sects and cults. 
One sect worships one god as its favorite; another sect worships 
another god; one cult holds to the existence of one supreme god; 
another to the existence of two supreme powers in the universe, a 
thoroughly dualistic philosophy; another cult is solely and grossly 
pantheistic. Yet all these cults are legitimately associated under the 
name of Hinduism. Two characteristics, however, mark a Hindu 
unfailingly. The first is unquestioning acquiescence in the caste 
system (see Note 3). The second is the acceptance of a series of 
fatalistic ideas expressed in three words, viz., Works, Wandering, and 
Release. These words sum up the Hindu idea of life — that all works 
done in this life are the resultant of works done in a prior life, and will 
be the cause of future works to be done in a later life ; that the soul is 
destined to prolonged wandering in various forms of existence, now 
higher, now lower, according to the works done in the immediately 
preceding existence; and that the ultimately desirable state of release 
is to be attained only when works cease to have any effect upon the 
soul, which thereupon vanishes by being absorbed by or united to 
Brahma as a raindrop is absorbed by the ocean. 

Note 3. The Caste System. The Hindu ideal of a social order is 
represented in the caste system, according to which every Hindu is 
a member of some particular social grade into which he was born afid 



8 



The Conquering Christ 



Senior 
Grade 



from which he cannot escape. The caste is a social organization 
composed of families having like interests. Orthodox Hinduism 
recognizes four great castes, viz., the priestly, warrior, merchant, and 
laborer castes. But each of these castes is again subdivided until 
we have 1,866 sub-castes among the Brahmans alone, not to speak of 
the multitudes of other sub-castes, which are said to number in all 

100,000. Besides the four 
great castes of Hinduism there 
are the casteless, or outcast peo- 
ple called Pariahs. Strangely- 
enough, even among the Pari- 
ahs there are many sub-castes. 
This complex caste system 
works for the Hindus unutter- 
able woe, and its meaning is 
hard to grasp. Each caste, 
whether of tanners, scavengers, 
brass-workers, carpenters, or 
blacksmiths, lives its own secu- 
lar and religious life, almost as 
though it were independent of 
all the other castes. The rules 
of caste are absolutely binding 
upon all members, and to break 
them brings the greatest dis- 
grace upon not only the of- 
fender but the entire caste as 
well. This system holds the whole Hindu world of over 207,000,000 
souls in a bondage more awful, more depressing, more fatal to 
progress and freedom than any other social system ever devised by 
man. Contact with a person of lower caste is defiling, while a 
Brahman counts it as pollution if the shadow of a Pariah falls upon 
him. A government official in India, himself a Hindu, has thus 
characterized the caste system: " Its evils cover the whole range of 
social life. It intensifies local dissensions and renders the country 
disunited and incapable of improving its defects. It robs us of 
our humanity by insisting on the degradation of some of our fellow 
men, who are separated from us by no more than accident of birth. 
It prevents noble and charitable impulses; it is. a steady enemy to 
all reform." 

Note 4. The Life of Hindu Women. The lot of Hindu women is 




A Hindu Shrine at Kanigiri. 



Zess f™ The Religion of the Hindus 9 

the worst to which any women of the world are ever born. It is 
made so by reason of the marriage customs which form a part of the 
Hindu religion. According to these customs a girl has nothing to 
say in the choice of her husband; and the husband, if a young man, 
has no voice in the choice of his wife. Professional matchmakers 
learn of a family in which there is a daughter or a son for whom the 
parents are anxious to contract a marriage, and then they press the 
prospective suit until the match is made. This takes place usually 
while both parties, and invariably the girl, are very young, so that 
frequently a girl of five or six years of age is married, though of her 
husband, whom she may never have seen, she knows absolutely 
nothing. Should the husband die, the child becomes a widow, and 
from that moment her life is dark as the blackness of the under world. 
All her pretty clothes, all finery, are taken from her, and she is clothed 
in a coarse garment typical of her condition. This is done in public 
with elaborate ceremony. Henceforth she is an outcast among her 
playmates, and the common drudge of the household. One meal a 
day is her allotment of food. She can never remarry, and so long 
as she lives is destined to a life of unspeakable cruelty, harshness, and 
loneliness. No affection protects her from the taunts of men and 
the scornful gibes of the children. In this state of enforced disgrace, 
from all causes for which she is an absolutely innocent party, she is 
compelled to live till death mercifully brings release. Mothers 
become objects of abuse from their children, children from parents, 
and the instinct of family love is crushed out of life. This is what 
orthodox Hinduism does for its women. 

Note 5. Transmigration, or the Sours Wandering. The Hindu 
believes that the soul lives through countless periods of time until it 
is at last absorbed into Brahma, but during this time it exists in many 
different forms of animal and vegetable life, or even shut up in a rock 
or other inanimate object. Hinduism provides, therefore, for the 
punishment of many sins of this existence by a less desirable state in 
the next, the most offensive punishments being meted out to those 
who break caste rules. Men who are merely immoral are less severely 
punished in the transmigration. Moreover, certain marks in the 
reborn state indicate the nature of the crime in the earlier state. 
Thus a criminal of the worst type, when again reaching a human 
existence will be a leper, one who killed a Brahman will have pul- 
monary consumption, a drunkard will have black teeth, and a stealer 
of food will be afflicted with dyspepsia. But before this second 
human existence can be attained, the offender must have passed 



10 The Conquering Christ 8en Grade 

through many intermediate existences in various kinds of insects, 
reptiles, fowl, and lower animals. But the good likewise have to 
pass through a long series of transmigrations and at one stage are in 
the form of rain. This is a most dangerous stage, since the rain may 
nourish rice, corn, beans, or some other vegetable into which the soul 
passes, and hence, if the food be eaten, the soul becomes like the soul of 
the eater, which fact exposes the soul of the good man to the peril 
of wearisome transmigrations before he may again enter human life. 

Note 6. Advantages and Disadvantages of Hinduism, (z) Advan- 
tages. The philosophical character of Hinduism has perfected, espe- 
cially among the higher castes, a type of mind capable of handling 
with dexterity many of the most difficult religious and philosophical 
conceptions. If ever the native intellectual genius of India is turned 
sympathetically upon Christianity, the resultant will be, religiously, 
the most gifted race of the world. Hinduism has also tended, through 
its emphasis upon fate, to develop a certain stoic temperament which 
manifests itself in an unquestioning submission to the hardships of 
life. Furthermore, Hinduism has so played upon the Indian's native 
capacity for religion as to produce a state of mind and life in which 
religion permeates every duty, every household care, every business 
transaction. Deity is usually conceived of as pure, only becoming 
degraded when incarnated. Prayer is natural to Hinduism and has 
been largely and sometimes beautifully cultivated; witness the peti- 
tion of the devotee before his idol : 

"My Master, grant thy grace to me, and oh 
Have pity on the soul that pines for thee !" 

(2) Disadvantages. Chief among the disadvantages of Hinduism 
is caste and all involved in it. Fatalism also " grips the people in 
a hopeless, helpless apathy, and sucks out all their spiritual energy." 
Its emphasis upon ritual and worship, indeed the very nature of its 
worship in many cases, makes it possible for a man to conform to 
religious standards while living an utterly corrupt life. With the 
wide prevalence of pantheistic ideas, the conception of a personal 
God is rare; and the common practice of idolatry tends to a degrada- 
tion of all ideas of deity. Most of the lower castes are priest-ridden 
and superstitious, given to gross forms of worship, their lives be- 
clouded by constant fear. 

Note 7. Hinduism and Christianity Contrasted. Hinduism is not 
adverse to idolatry, which Christianity condemns. The religion of the 
Hindu is pantheistic and materialistic, that of the Christian is mono- 
theistic and spiritual. The laws of the Hindu consist of specific 



Les rwo T he R e lk™ n °f the Hindus H 

and detailed instructions ; the laws of the Christian are concerned 
with fundamental spiritual principles. " Christianity is all spirit and 
life; Hinduism is all letter and death." The one theoretically believes 
in the solidarity of the race, but practices the exclusiveness of a caste 
system ; the other in belief and practice holds to the universal Father- 
hood of God and brotherhood of man. Hinduism debases woman, 
Christianity exalts her. The one is satisfied with formal assent to 
creeds and practice of rites; the other demands an inner righteousness 
giving life and warmth to an outer conformity of conduct therewith. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(j) Womanhood and widowhood among the Hindus. Religions of 
Mission Fields, pp. 70, 71. (2) Transmigration of the soul. Reed: 
Hindu Literature, pp. 139-145, 346-348. (?) The daily life of a 
^{ligh caste Brahman. Bliss: Encyclopaedia of Missions, pp. 297, 
298, under sub-head, " Subtle influence of the system," in art. 
" Hinduism." {4) The deities of Hinduism. Thoburn: Christian 
Conquest of India, pp. 113-115. (5) The Laws of Manu. Reed: 
Hindu Literature (see references in index), also Clarke: Ten Great 
Religions, vol. i, pp. 100-113. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What do we mean by religion? 2. How has religion helped to 
create the world's history? 3. To what extent does religion to-day 
enter into human affairs? 4. What is the common basis upon which 
we can pursue a sympathetic study of all religions? 5. What is the 
first religion which we are to study? 6. State the object of to-day's 
lesson. 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is the relation of Brahmanism to Hinduism? (Note 2.) 



2. Mention several religions which have contributed to modern 
Hinduism. 



3. Characterize and illustrate the diversity of ideas inherent in the 

system. 



4. What are two characteristic marks of a Hindu? 



12 The Conquering Christ Senior 



Grade 



5.. What does Hinduism mean by " works "? by " wandering "? 
by " release "? 



6. Tell something of the nature of the caste system. (Note 3.) 

7. What is the general effect of caste upon India? 



8. How is caste regarded by the mass of Hindus? by progressive 
officials ? 



9. How is the lot of Hindu women made very hard? (Note 4.) 



10. How do these customs affect Hindu family life? 



11. Explain the Hindu idea of transmigration. Give illustrations 
of the way it is supposed to work out. (Note 5.) 



12. State some advantages of Hinduism. Some disadvantages. 
(Note 6.) 



13. Contrast Hinduism with Christianity. (Note 7.) 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Mention some reasons why Hinduism should claim the student's 
interest. 2. In what points may Hinduism be likened to Christianity? 
3. Which of these would furnish a Christian missionary with some 
ground of approach? 4. Who would be the more easily reached, a 



Lt ? Three Reform Movements in Hinduism 13 

high-caste, or a low-caste Hindu? why? 5. What elements in Hin- 
duism operate against any tendency toward change? 

Mission Gem. " Of one thing I am convinced, Do what you will, 
oppose it as we may, it is the Christian's Bible which will sooner or 
later work the renovation or regeneration of this land." — Ven Kayya, 
a learned Brahman and orthodox Hindu. 

Personal Thought. My life is spent in an environment of marked 
personal liberty. It is not, as are so many lives of India, barred from 
progress by the massive gates of caste, custom and superstition. 
In a very real sense I am free to make my future days what I will. 
What shall they be? 



Lesson 3. REFORM MOVEMENTS IN HINDUISM. A 
Struggle for Freedom. 

(Read ** Directions for Study," in Introduction, p. viii.) 
Scripture Reading: Patch the Old or Provide a New? Mt. 9:14-17. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show how Hinduism has re- 
peatedly failed to satisfy the religious cravings of Hindu hearts, and 
how this failure has prompted vigorous reforms. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Hindu Reforms from Within. Movements which have 
aimed to reform Hinduism have been of two kinds, those which have 
operated from within, and those which have influenced it from without. 
Of the former — those, namely, which have sought to purify the popu- 
lar worship from gross and debasing elements, and to revive the ancient 
and purer Hinduism — two may be mentioned, the Swami-Narayana 
and the Aryo-Somaj. 

Between the twelfth and the nineteenth centuries a. d., many 
Hindu sects have arisen, which have endeavored to rescue the native 
religion from the folly and superstition into which it has fallen. One 
of the more effective of these is the Swami-Narayana sect. It was 
founded at the beginning of the last century, is still active, and has 
done much to elevate the popular and degrading worship of Vishnu. 

More prominent at the present time is the reform movement known 
as the Aryo-Somaj (Aryan Assembly), which was formally organized 
in 1875 by a Brahman, named Dayanand Saraswati. Of this man it 
has been said, " He was a dreamer of splendid dreams. He had a vision 
of India purged of her superstitions, filled with the fruits of science, 
worshiping one God, fitted for self-rule, having a place in the sister- 
hood of nations, and restored to her ancient glory." This ideal 
Saraswati thought might be realized by a return to the pure religion 



14 



The Conquering Christ 



Senior 
Gradt 



of the Vedas, the ancient sacred books of the Hindus. To further 
his scheme of religious reformation, he injected into his teaching a 
national as well as a religious motive. The motto of the movement 
is " India for the Indians," which has been paraphrased as " Let us 
stand by the religion of our fathers, because in the ancient Vedas all 
that is good in Christianity is found, and he that accepts the religion 
of the West is a traitor to his country." This movement is thus 
at war not only with the grosser forms of Hinduism which grip the 
great masses of India, but with Mohammedanism and Christianity. 
By arousing the national spirit, and by standing for many of the best 
things which contact with the Occident has shown to be wise, such as 

public education, 
large use of the print- 
ing press, and a better 
social morality, this 
movement has at- 
tracted many follow- 
ers. It is one of the 
most powerful forces 
at work in India to- 
day. Yet it is bitter- 
ly hostile to the Chris- 
tian influences which 
have shaped its policy, 
and hurls against 
Christianity the vilest 
denunciations. Its 
leading tenets are the inspiration of the four Vedas, the eternity of the 
three substances, God, Spirit, and Matter, the present distinctness of the 
individual soul from God, transmigration, and a salvation free from all 
sorrow and pain through the future absorption of the individual soul 
into God, the World-soul. 

While professing to reform Hinduism, and to deny caste within the 
Somaj, the organization really demands no surrender of caste or of 
religious custom. Though it has done much to break down super- 
stition, and has worked for a broader Hinduism, the bigoted attitude 
of its adherents toward all non-Hindus has stamped it as provincial, 
and lacking in sympathy and open-mindedness. 




A Christian Theological Seminary, Ramapatam, 
South India. 



Note 3. Hindu Reforms from Without. A second class of reform 
movements is due to outside forces tending to produce a modified 
Hinduism. The most recent of these are modern Hindu theosophy 



Le Three Reform Movements in Hinduism 15 

(see Glossary) and the Brahmo-Somaj. The latter is treated in Note 4. 
The modern Hindu theosophical movement was inaugurated in India 
about thirty years ago by an American, Colonel Olcott, and a Russian, 
Madame Blavatsky. In Madras they founded a theosophical society 
and began publishing a periodical called The Theosophist, devoted to 
the esoteric (see Glossary) and occult sciences. Their success was 
immediate and amazing. Many of the high-class Hindus with British 
education, and even many English of the highest social standing, be- 
came identified with the movement. It rested, however, on decep- 
tion. Confirmatory spiritualistic phenomena, seances, etc., were 
proved to be fraudulent, and the professed revelations of Madame 
Blavatsky were swamped .by laughter and ridicule. Nevertheless, 
some of her followers retained confidence in her, and those adherents 
of the theosophical circles who repudiated both Olcott and Blavatsky 
maintained that the system of thought suffered no loss of value 
through the frauds practised by them. In England, the latter won 
as a new disciple, Mrs. Annie Besant, who, in 1893, two years after 
Madame Blavatsky' s death, went out to India to carry forward the 
theosophical work. By eloquence and flattery she ingratiated herself 
into the favor of the Hindus and met with a success more startling 
than her predecessors had experienced. In 1900 she made Benares 
her headquarters, and established there a great central Hindu college, 
upon the grounds of which has been built a temple dedicated to Saras- 
wati, goddess of learning; the entrance to the main building is sur- 
mounted by a figure of Ganesa, the god of wisdom, and a text book 
of Hinduism is the manual of religious instruction provided for in the 
curriculum. Of Mrs. Besant' s propaganda, "it is difficult to de- 
cide how much is conscious mendacity on her part, how much the 
exuberance of extravagant eloquence, and how much honest convic- 
tion." That many well educated but weak-willed Hindus have fallen 
under her spell there can be no doubt, but it is a question whether the 
present theosophical circles of Hinduism will ever become numerically 
formidable; their chief strength will lie in the body of influential per- 
sons who are attracted by the occult vagaries that constitute its teach- 
ings. The outstanding tenet of all Hindu theosophists has been the 
identity of the individual soul with the World-soul, from which it 
logically follows that all which is is merely the manifestation of the 
World-soul. From this spring two beliefs — that God may be worshiped 
in anything, which results in idolatry; and that the World-soul is 
always manifesting itself now in one form, now in another, which is a 
way of stating the theory of transmigration The system ends in pan- 
theism, though it may begin with monotheism. 



16 The Conquering Christ Sen Grade 

Note 4. The Brahmo-Somaj. Another reform movement owing 
its inception to the impact of outside forces upon Hinduism is known 
as the Brahmo-Somaj (Prayer Assembly). It differs from those al- 
ready noticed, in that it frankly admits its indebtedness to Christian- 
ity, is distinctly friendly toward Christian missionaries and their work, 
and is very largely interested in all worthy reforms, whether of a social, 
political, or religious nature. This movement was begun about 
eighty years ago by Rammohun Roy, a high-caste Brahman, who, 
when only sixteen years of age, had written a spirited tract leveled at 
idolatry. In his young manhood Roy studied practically all the 
sacred books of the world in their original languages, including the 
Bible in Hebrew and Greek. As a result he declared, " The conse- 
quence of my long and uninterrupted researches into religious truth 
has been that I have found the doctrines of Christ more conducive to 
moral principles, and better adapted for the use of rational beings, than 
any other which have come to my knowledge." Later on Roy set up 
a new religious institution with a number of his sympathizers, and a 
building for their meetings was erected. "The trust deed of the 
building laid down that it was to be used as a place of meeting for the 
worship of the One Eternal, Unsearchable, and Immutable Being, 
the Author and Preserver of the Universe, to the promotion of piety, 
morality, and charity, and the strengthening of the bonds of union 
between men of all religious classes and creeds. Moreover, that no 
image, print, picture, portrait, or likeness should be admitted within 
the building, that no sacrifice should be offered there., and that nothing 
recognized as an object of worship by other men should be spoken of 
contemptuously there." It will be seen that Roy was in no wise 
antagonistic to Hinduism; indeed, to the end of his life he was a 
friendly reformer, aiming at the retention of all that was worthy in 
Brahmanism, while sweeping away all that was gross, corrupt and 
false. His organization became known as the Hindu Unitarian Church. 

The work of Rammohun Roy, who passed away prematurely at 
Bristol, England, whither he had gone in the interests of good govern- 
ment for India, was carried on by Debendra-nath Tagore. This man 
came into the movement in 1859, and found there a young man, 
Keshub Chunder Sen, who, for a while, became an invaluable helper 
in the work of reformation. Caste, while not attacked, was not recog- 
nized within the new organization. Reforms of Hinduism, especially 
as touching idolatry and the marriage customs, were the chief work. 
But Chunder Sen outstripped Tagore in reforming tendencies, and 
finally insisted upon the renunciation of caste by all would-be ad- 
herents of the Somaj, whereupon the inevitable split occurred. The 



Ll f Three Reform Movements in Hinduism 17 

interest henceforth lies with the work of Chunder Sen, who organized 
his followers into the Brahmo-Somaj of India, which, under his en- 
ergetic leadership, became the great reforming power of India both in 
religious and social matters. He earnestly seconded the work of the 
Christian missionaries, and meted out unstinted praise to Christ. In 
his famous and eloquent lecture delivered in Calcutta in 1879, before 
an audience of over a thousand persons, on the theme, " India asks, 
Who is Christ? " he said: " Gentlemen, you cannot deny that your 
hearts have been touched, conquered, and subjugated by a superior 
power. That power, need I tell you, is Christ. It is Christ who rules 
British India, and not the British government. England has sent 
out a tremendous moral force, in the life and character of that mighty 
prophet, to conquer and hold this vast empire. None but Jesus, none 
but Jesus, none, I say, but Jesus, ever deserved this bright, this pre- 
cious diadem, India, and Jesus shall have it." 

But the full promise of Chunder Sen's best days was not to be ful- 
filled. After prosecuting his reformatory work for some years, he 
practically violated the marriage law, which he had been chiefly in- 
strumental in procuring, by permitting the betrothal of his thirteen- 
year-old daughter — the law stipulated fourteen years as the minimum 
age. Furthermore, at the ceremony some of the Brahman marriage 
rites were performed. This action called forth a storm of protest, 
and resulted in defection among Sen's followers, and the organization 
of a new Somaj. From this time on, the leader's own movements 
became less commendable, finally he announced himself as the di- 
vinely appointed author of a New Dispensation, and his creed became 
an amalgam of Hindu Theism and Christianity. Had Chunder Sen 
passed from the stage of action prior to his daughter's marriage his 
work might have meant untold good for India. As it is, the close of 
his life casts a shadow over the whole, and suggests that he failed to 
keep wholly true to the aspiration which is breathed in a stanza of 
one of his favorite hymns: 

" O thou, my soul, forget no more, 
The Friend who all thy sorrows bore. 
Let every idol be forgot ; 
But, O my soul, forget Him not." 

" Shipwrecked through presumption and vanity, he was as a moth 
whose wings were destroyed at the flame of the divinity of Christ, 
simply because in his folly and self-will he neither could nor would 
abstain from fluttering around it in his own fashion; he is also an ex- 
ample of the mighty fermentation the Spirit of Christ is producing in 
the minds of the Hindus." Mozoomdar, a disciple and the successor 



18 The Conquering Christ Sen Grade 

of Chunder Sen, after serving as head of the movement for several 
years, went into retirement, and lived as a hermit. At the present 
time the movement is not as formidable as it once was, but what its 
future shall be remains to be seen. Its chief weaknesses are lack of 
the self-sacrificing spirit among its members, the vagueness of its 
creed, its superficial and illogical teachings, its emphasis upon ethics 
rather than religion, and its merely half-way approach to Christ. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) The career of Keshub Chunder Sen. Richter: History of Mis- 
sions in India, pp. 369-375. (2) Fraudulent theosophy in India. 
Richter: History of Missions in India, pp. 378-389. (3) A Hindu's 
picture of Jesus. Mozoomdar: The Oriental Christ. (4) The Swami- 
Narayana Sect. Williams: Religious Life and Thought in India, pp. 
148-158. (5) Christianity as the transforming power of Hinduism. 
Jones: India's Problem, Krishna or Christ, pp. 341-359. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. How has Hinduism developed its present characteristics? 2. 
Explain the caste system. 3. What is meant by transmigration? 
4. Describe the life of Hindu women. 5. Mention several worthy 
features of Hinduism. 6. What is the subject of to-day's lesson ? its 
object ? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What two types of reform movements have been directed against 
popular Hinduism? (Notes 2, 3.) 



2. What influence has the Swami-Narayana sect had? 



3. Characterize the Aryo-Somaj. 



4. What were the ideals of its founder? 



LeS Tkree Reform Movements in Hinduism 19 

5. What are some of the good features of this movement? its short- 



6. What was Madame Blavatsky's relation to modern Hindu the- 
osophy (Note 3)? What is Mrs. Besant's? 



7. What is the present status of the movement, its importance and 
probable future? 



8. Mention the outstanding tenet of Hindu theistic cults. 



9. How does the Brahmo-Somaj differ from the reformatory move- 
ments already discussed? (Note 4.) 



10. Sketch the history of the movement. 



11. What are some of its ideals? 



12. In what lines of work has it been influential? 



13. Sum up the characteristics of the Brahmo-Somaj. 



14. What is your estimate of Chunder Sen? 



20 The Conquering Christ Sm G?ade 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What common ground could a missionary find with a member 
of the Aryo-Somaj? 2. What is the proper relation between pa- 
triotism and religion? 3. Along what lines would you endeavor to 
lead a Brahmo-Somaj adherent to a full recognition of Jesus as Re- 
deemer? 4. What do these reform movements suggest as to the 
sufficiency of Hinduism to meet the needs of the Hindus? 5. How 
far is the existence of sects within Christianity analogous to the ex- 
istence of reform movements within Hinduism? 6. Mention some 
respects in which the Oriental conception of Jesus must necessarily 
differ from the Occidental conception. 

Mission Gem. " The restless millions await that light whose 
dawning maketh all things new, and Christ also waits." — Alice 
■McClure. 

Personal Thought. Chunder Sen's brief career, like that of a comet, 
ended in darkness ; his no less brilliant successor, Mozoomdar, forsook 
the Somaj and became a hermit. How vain the hope of peace just 
outside of Christ ! Do I admit Him to my throne-room, but keep Him 
from the throne? 



Lesson 4. THE TEACHING OF BUDDHA. A Religion of 

Pessimism. 

Scripture Reading: The Answer to Buddhism. Mt. 5:3, 8, 12, 20; Jo. 14:1-3. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To point out Buddhism's relation 
to Brahmanism and Hinduism, to set forth its distinctive doctrines, 
to show how these doctrines influence the lives of its adherents, and 
to make clear its points of weakness and strength. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Gautama, the Founder of Buddhism. The magnitude of 
the spiritual wave that swept over the civilized world in the sixth 
century b.c. made that century an epoch in human history. It 
witnessed the almost simultaneous rise of such men as Confucius and 
Lao Tzu in China, ^Eschylus and Pythagoras in Greece, and Jeremiah 
and Ezekiel in Judea. The middle of this century gave birth to 
Siddhartha Gautama, founder of a religion that has embraced a 
larger number of followers than any other faith. There is evidence 
that Gautama in boyhood manifested morbid traits which led his 
father to fear for the boy's welfare and happiness. Hence he sur- 
rounded him with every device for pleasure that ingenuity could 
contrive. Three palatial homes, situated in the midst of gardens 
and parks, and adapted to the varying seasons of the year, shielded 



LeS F°our Tke Teaching of Buddha 25 

him from contact with the world's misery, pain and sorrow. At 
sixteen years of age he was united in marriage to his cousin, the 
daughter of King Suprabuddha, with whom for thirteen years he lived 
in luxury, surrounded by all the splendor of an Oriental court. To 
him one son was born, upon whom a father's full affection was poured 
out. 

As the marriage of Gautama was one of love, and the home life 
was marked by peace and plenty, these years might well have been 
deemed the perfection of earthly bliss. But the charm of his life 
did not prevent Gautama from longing for knowledge of the outer 
world, which he finally obtained. On one occasion, as he was walking 
abroad, he passed " an old man bowed by the weight of years, a sick 
man covered with sores, a putrefying corpse, and a venerable mendi- 
cant monk." He at once became so impressed with the illusiveness 
and mortality of life, and the vanity and sadness of existence, that 
he resolved to give himself to a search for the causes of sorrow, death, 
and transmigration, and for a means of their extinction. At twenty- 
nine years of age he forsook parents, wife, child, friends and scenes 
of his boyhood, and resolutely set forth on a search for truth. This 
is known as " the Great Renunciation." For the space of six years 
he sought peace through a life of extreme asceticism. But one day, 
after having fallen in a faint through the weakness resulting from 
trying to live on one grain of wheat per day, he concluded that there 
was no virtue in asceticism and abandoned it. Shortly thereafter, 
as he one day sat under a Nigrodha, since known as a Bo tree, the 
" truth " began to dawn upon him, and at the end of seven days he 
became a " Sammasambuddha," or " wholly enlightened one," and 
had reached Nirvana (see Glossary). From this time on, for about 
forty-five years, Gautama, the Buddha, went about teaching the 
" truth " which was revealed to him as he sat under the Bo tree (see 
Note 4). 

Note 3. Relation of Buddhism to Brahmanism and Hinduism. 

Brahmanism, as we have already noticed (Lesson 2, Note 2) , produced 
Hinduism. Before this development had gone very far, however, 
Buddhism, founded by Gautama, appeared as a protest against 
Brahmanism. Gautama took issue with Brahmanism at a time 
when to do so was not fraught with the danger that later would have 
accompanied such " heresy." In Gautama's day the Brahman 
priesthood was contending for supremacy. In large measure this 
had been secured, but in the kingdom of Kosala, where Gautama 
lived, a strong spirit of independence existed and it was this element 



22 The Conquering Christ Sen G°ade 

of liberty and freedom in the life of the people of Kosala that per- 
mitted Gautama to take exception to various teachings of the Brah- 
mans. Furthermore, much religious teaching that differed from that 
of the Brahmans was popular, and a class of religious peripatetics found 
ready welcome in all of the villages through which their wanderings 
carried them. While much of the religious teaching thus dissemi- 
nated was not intentionally hostile to Brahmanism, it took issue with 
it at several points. So true is this that some writers claim, and 
probably with correctness, that Gautama lived and died orthodox in 
the Brahman faith. We know that Gautama regarded himself as 
true to Brahmanism to the last. 

The points at which Gautama took issue with the Brahmanism of 
his day included caste, treatment of women, supremacy of the Brah- 
man, bloody sacrifices, transmigration, deity, and ultimate state of 
existence. Caste was unrecognized by him, and the killing of any 
living creature was absolutely forbidden. More regard for women 
is expressed by Buddhism than by any other Oriental religion. Gau- 
tama manifested something of true spiritual insight in his attitude 
toward the Brahman priesthood. " I do not call a man a Brahmana," 
he said, " because of his origin or of his mother. He is indeed ar- 
rogant, and he is wealthy; but the poor, who is free from all attach- 
ments, him I call indeed a Brahmana." Indeed the whole attitude 
of Gautama toward Brahmanism was much like that of Jesus toward 
Judaism, and Buddhism is related to Brahmanism much as Christianity 
is to Judaism. 

Note 4. Doctrine of Buddhism. The principle which Gautama 
formulated and presented as a fundamental and universal truth was 
that all sorrow and pain and misery is due to desire; eliminate desire 
from life, and peace is attained, enlightenment secured, the Nirvana 
reached. This negative principle explains the doctrinal development 
of Buddhism into a religion of practically universal negation. The 
outstanding features of Buddhism may be stated briefly as below. 
It should be noted, however, that these features are often so vague 
and contradictory as to make a consistent statement of them well- 
nigh impossible. 

(j) God. Buddha denied the existence of a supreme deity — at 
least he makes no recognition of one, and when it was argued that the 
Great Brahma was such, Gautama refuted the argument. 

(2) The human soul. Buddha maintained that the soul is but the 
sum of five elementary principles, viz., form, sensation, perception, 
tendencies, and thought. When these principles combine there 



Lesson 
Four 



The Teaching of Buddha 



23 



exists a soul, much as, when the parts of a chariot are combined, 
there exists a chariot. At death these principles are scattered and 
the soul ceases to exist. 

(j) Prayer. As Buddhism recognizes no God, there is no one to 
whom prayer can be addressed. Yet Buddhism is provided with 
prayer formulas ex- 
pressive of the wishes 
of the devotee. Dr. 
J. N. Cushing, for 
forty years a mission- 
ary to Burmah, re- 
ports: " Many times 
I have asked wor- 
shipers on the plat- 
form of the great 
Shwe Dagon Pagoda 
at Rangoon and else- 
where, 'Are you 
praying to Gautama 
or to the Pagoda ? ' 




Buddhists Praying by Proxy. 



Traffic in prayers goes on constantly at the Shwe Dagon Pagoda. 
The man kneeling has been paid two cents by each of the women, and 
is offering prayers to their credit. The cans before the man contain 
water, which will be poured over the idol when the prayers are ended. 



The answer has al- 
ways been, ' I am 
praying to no one.' 
4 For what are you praying, then? ' ' Nothing,' is the inevitable 
reply. ' I hope in some way, I know not how, to get benefit.' " 

(4) Illusion. Buddhism denies the reality of everything. It is 
the religion of the great negation. The world, life, even the thinking 
self is pure illusion, and the assertion " I am " expresses the most 
damning illusion of all. 

(5) Karma, the Buddhist theory of transmigration. Gautama could 
not entirely rid himself of the Brahman doctrine of transmigration. 
Hence this doctrine, taken over from Brahmanism, reappears in 
Buddhism as the doctrine of Karma. According to the Hindu theory 
of transmigration, the soul, throughout countless periods of time, 
passes from one form of being to another (Lesson 2, Note 5). But 
Buddhism, in denying the real existence of the soul, denies also the 
possibility of soul transmigration. A kind of transmigration is 
ascribed, however, to the acts and choices of the individual. It has* 
been described as the transmigration of character. If ill-fortune 
comes upon a Buddhist, he says, " Oh, it's my Karma," by which 
he means that the character or nature of his life has been determined 
by the character or nature of some previous life. 



24 The Conquering Christ SeT Grade 

(6) Nirvana, the goal of existence. The grand prize which Bud- 
dhism holds out to its followers is the attainment of Nirvana, i. e., free- 
dom from all desire, a, dreamless sleep unbroken by feeling, knowledge 
or thought. Between such a state and extinction of being there is 
no practical difference. 

" So Buddha . . . 

... all the All thou hadst for needy man 
Was Nothing and thy Best of being was 

But not to be." — Sydney Lanier. 

Note 5. Buddhism as It Is. The beliefs here outlined constitute 
only a part of the whole story of Buddhism. These beliefs are strangely 
intermixed with contradictory rites and practices. In different 
countries Buddhism has become modified under the pressure of sur- 
rounding religious cults. Multitudes of the Buddhists, especially in 
China, now regard their prayers as addressed to one of the numerous 
idol gods, and the future state is looked upon as a heaven for the 
righteous and a hell for the wicked. Superstition and priestcraft 
have robbed the system of any virtues it once possessed. Probably 
the most widely prevalent practice of the Buddhist to-day is "to 
prevent demerit from arising, get rid of it when arisen, produce 
merit, increase it." The whole life of the Buddhist is occupied with 
this attainment of merit through repeated rounds of petty rites or, 
occasionally, some greater act such as building a pagoda. Faith in 
the efficiency of merit is so great that crime and sin may be indulged 
in freely and then canceled by " making merit." That such a system 
cannot improve the social and moral life of its adherents is not sur- 
prising. 

Note 6. Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism as a moral and 
ethical code has sometimes been favorably compared to Christianity. 
Certainly that " truth " of Buddhism known as the Noble Eightfold 
Path is worthy of practice by all men. This path, which is said to 
lead to peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, 
consists of right views, high aims, kindly speech, upright conduct, a 
harmless occupation, perseverance in well-doing, intellectual activity, 
and profound meditation. Good as this is, and it is the best Buddhism 
has to offer, it amounts only to a thoroughgoing atheistic code of 
morals. It is essentially selfish and materialistic, sounds no note of 
the solidarity of the race, the brotherhood of man, a divine Father- 
hood, or a spiritual redemption. The only motive power that can 
ever keep a religion true to its high ideals, the power of an abiding 
and helpful divine personality, it wholly lacks. 



LeS Four The Teachin g of Buddha 25 

Perhaps no religion offers so few grounds of Christian approach. 
Yet the conceptions that the future state is determined here in this 
life, that the most desirable state is one of endless freedom from 
pain and sorrow, and that the cultivation of moral qualities is an aid 
in this attainment, are all conceptions of which the Christian mis- 
sionary can make advantageous use. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(j) The Life of Gautama. Encyc. Brit., art. " Buddhism." (2) 
Buddhism as it is. Cochrane: Among the Burmans, ch. v. (j) The 
devout Buddhist in Japan. Religions of Mission Fields, pp. 151-155. 
(4) The ideal Buddhist. Baynes: The Way of the Buddha, ch. viii. 
(j) The ethics of Buddha. Cushing: Christ and Buddha, pp. 66-83. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What features of Hinduism made reform movements inevitable? 

2. What three prominent reforms are modifying Hinduism to-day? 

3. What is the attitude of each of these toward political issues? social 
reforms? Christianity? 4. What seems to be the significance of these 
movements? 5. What religion do we study to-day? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. With what particular points of Buddhism does the lesson deal? 
(Note 1.) 



2. For what is the sixth century b. c. remarkable? (Note 2.) 



3. Sketch the life of Gautama. 



4. What relation do Hinduism and Buddhism respectively bear 
to Brahmanism? (Note 3.) 



5. What was the condition of Brahmanism in Gautama's dayi 



26 The Conquering Christ Sen Grade 

6. Did Gautama intend to establish a new religion? 

7. At what points did he take issue with Brahmanism? 



8. Upon what principle, as formulated by Gautama, was Bud- 
dhism based? (Note 4.) 



9. What is the Buddhist doctrine of &od? of the human soul ? 



10. What is the Buddhist theory of prayer? 



11. What is the doctrine of illusion ? of Karma? of Nirvana? 



12. How does modern Buddhism differ from the teachings of 
Gautama? (Note 5.) 



13. What is meant by " merit "? 



14. Mention some worthy elements of Buddhism. (Note 6.) 



15. In what features is Christianity superior to Buddhism? 



LesS Five A Chinese Philosopher and his Work 27 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. At what points would you criticise Gautama's modification of 
Brahmanism? 2. Is it a good philosophy which would extinguish 
pain and sorrow by extinguishing desire? why? 3. What are some 
of the self-contradictions of Buddhism? 4. Which would you rather 
be, a typical Hindu or a typical Buddhist? why? 5. Which would 
be the more easily won to Christianity and why — a Buddhist or a 
Hindu? 

Mission Gem. _ "Those who recognize that moral and spiritual 
forces ultimately rule the world will increasingly feel that the West 
owes it to the ancient East to pay back a part of its age-long debt by 
helping to lay deep the foundation of an Oriental Christian civiliza- 
tion." — Arthur H. Smith. 

Personal Thought. The truly heroic and noble spirit in which 
Gautama turned away from unlimited self -gratification to the service 
of his fellow men should cause to blush with shame many who profess 
the name of Christ but who know nothing of the practice of self- 
sacrifice. Have I yet learned how to say, 

" Go, then, earthly fame and treasure ; 
Come, disaster, scorn and pain! 
In Thy service pain is pleasure, 
With Thy favor loss is gain"? 



Lesson 5. A CHINESE PHILOSOPHER AND HIS WORK. 

Lao Tzu and Taoism. 

Scripture Reading: A Hebrew Philosopher on Wisdom. Job 28:12-28. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To sketch the origin and nature of 
Taoism, its later degeneration and present corruption, and to contrast 
the present, system with the teachings and practice of Christianity. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Origin and Nature of Taoism. Taoism takes its name 
from the fact that its founder, Lao Tzu, taught the philosophy of Tao. 
Who or what Tao is, it is difficult to say, as the term has been used in 
so many senses that no one English word satisfactorily interprets it. 
The word nature, however, understanding by this the force which lies 
back of all change and development, comes fairly near Lao Tzu's idea 
when he used the word Tao. Tao, as he conceived it, was a vague, 
impersonal, all-pervasive force, accomplishing its universal mission, 
yet itself inactive. " Tao is eternally inactive, and yet it leaves 



28 The Conquering Christ 8m cSvde 

nothing undone," said Lao Tzu. In another aspect Tao is regarded 
as equivalent to virtue, the principle of morality. 

The background of Taoism is to be found in the folk-lore of the 
Chinese nation long before the day of Lao Tzu. Belief in the existence 
of one supreme spiritual being, in the ancestral spirit world, in innu- 
merable superstitions, and that the government and order of the ter- 
restrial empire was exactly patterned after that of the celestial empire 
— this was the earlier belief upon which Lao Tzu built his philosophy. 
He did not intend to destroy what he had already found; he endeavored 
to understand and explain it. He seems to have added nothing to 
the general fund of exact knowledge; his utterances, instead of being 
scientific statements, read like selections from the later Hebrew Wis- 
dom writers. 

The founder of Taoism was probably born about 600 b. c. Little 
is known of him, though tradition affirms that at one time he met 
Confucius. Neither of the men seems to have understood or appre- 
ciated the other. From one of his writings it would appear that Lao 
Tzu lived to be an old man with but little to give him comfort in his 
advanced age. " Other men have plenty," said he, " while I alone 
seem to have lost all. Other men are full of light, I alone seem 
to be in darkness. Other men are alert, I alone am listless. I am 
unsettled as the ocean, drifting as though I had no stopping place." 
The uncertainty which clings about the facts of Lao Tzu's life attaches 
also to his alleged writings. Few are known to be authentic, many 
are thought to have been written after his day. One of the best at- 
tested is the Tao Teh Ktng, a little book less than twice as long as the 
Sermon on the Mount. Many of the aphorisms in this work strike a 
high moral note, and the injunction, "Requite hatred with goodness," 
reveals Lao Tzu's true nobility of spirit. 

Taoism in its early form was an attempt to understand the great 
Unseen, and to apply the laws of nature to personal conduct. Lao 
Tzu explained every natural phenomenon by the simple assertion, 
" It is Tao." Moreover, inasmuch as Tao ordered the processes of 
nature without noticeable exertion, so in like manner, thought Lao 
Tzu, it should be possible for man to accomplish his ends without 
activity or exertion. Hence, " Practise inaction, occupy yourself 
with doing nothing," he said. " Leave all things to take their natural 
course, and do not interfere." This conception of Tao robbed the 
native Chinese faith of its earlier idea of a supreme personal ruler, 
and inculcated a paralyzing doctrine of inaction. Its lack of definite 
religious content provided, as it were, an empty temple to be filled 
with such gods as popular imagination might create. 



LesS Five A Chinese Philosopher and his Work 29 

Note 3. The Decay and Corruption of Taoism. Lao Tzu's philos- 
ophy contained nothing that could satisfy the cravings of the human 
heart. It had nothing to worship, no recognition of sin, no place for 
spiritual exercises. A handful of scholars who professed to follow 
the way which Lao Tzu had pointed out finally became an elect class 
and developed into the Taoist priesthood. 

The advent of Buddhism into China in the third century b. c. had 
a profound influence on Taoism. At first the conflict between the 
two religions was sharp and severe, leading the priests of both systems, 
in their zeal for converts, to an exchange of practices. From Bud- 
dhism the Taoist priests learned the deceptions of priestcraft, and the 
ritual of worship ; they copied the prayers for the dead and established 
nunneries; they appropriated the Buddhist hell and invented a trinity. 
Taoism thus copied the worst features of Buddhism, only modifying 
them to the extent of making them vastly worse than before their 
adoption. It therefore manifests many points of likeness to Bud- 
dhism. It has multiplied the native superstitions of the people, and 
has distorted every worthy element which the system originally may 
have possessed. It is the most demoralizing force in the Empire. 

To-day Taoism and Buddhism have settled down to a mutual in- 
difference, being in many respects so nearly alike that only an expert 
can distinguish between them. The most obvious distinction between 
the priests is the yellow robe of the Buddhist and the blue robe of the 
Taoist. Buddhism has no connection with the Chinese government, 
but Taoism is the governmental religion of the Empire. The gods 
of Taoism are for the most part state gods, and are actually appointed 
by the emperor in connection with Pope Chang, for the supposed 
parallelism between the Empire of Heaven and the Empire of Earth 
(see Note 2) makes it necessary, when changes occur in the earthly 
seats of honor, to make similar changes in the heavenly. 

Note 4. The Priesthood, Idolatry and Superstition. The Taoist 
priesthood consists of two branches, the clerical and the lay. The 
clerical priests are supposed to be celibate, but it is a notorious 
fact that the pope is " plentifully married." The cleric lives on the 
temple endowments and on fees for funeral services and prayers for 
the dead. He professes to be a mediator between the gods and men. 
The lay priest may take a wife or not at will — most of them are mar- 
ried, wear the clothes of an ordinary citizen and abide at home. 
They live by the practice of sooth-saying, and ministering to the in- 
numerable superstitions of the masses. If a man desires good luck or 
a blessing he goes to the lay priest. If he wants his neighbor cursed, 
he can hire the lay priest to do it. The lay priest is an impostor. 



30 



The Conquering Christ 



Senior 
Grade 



The idolatry of Taoism is the most extensive in China. Buddhism 



has upwards of 



llliiiiif 






'■:.':. '" : .," 


> -- * ^ 






Mia*g<;:ai 


iSlI 


JswiigSWlffi 




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ittllf 


i ^'?': '• '■'■." 




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■ ^MEi-** 


ili 


-* 


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m 


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? '^B 


£ - v 4.« v* :■> .: ; 


^j -i|| 


r - - < ^ - i ffe v Wf 


^^-11 


■*■ ? ' - \ - ! i. fi«:^i 






*^ -"^t' 







)f popular deities, but Taoism boasts its thous- 
ands. Every official of the 
Chinese Empire is duplicated 
in the spiritual host. Over 1600 
towns and cities have their local 
gods. Each star of the sky has 
its particular god, and the picture 
of the Three Stars, Happiness, 
Office and Age, is worshiped in 
upwards of 100,000 homes. The 
Taoist system of idolatry is carried 
into the fairyland region of 
gnomes, nymphs and genii. 
These creatures of nook and dell 
are supposed to be subject to 
control through mystic formulas, 
charms, and incantations. 

The superstitions of the Taoist 
come to light in a thousand activi- 
ties of the daily life. There is no 
religion which harbors more vain 
fancies, or generates and nour- 
ishes more senseless superstitions. 
If the priests are running short of supplies, they only have to think up 
some dream, some apparition, some newly revealed injunction, which 
they impart to the populace, and at once fresh supplies are forth- 
coming. Demons are everywhere, and to make their travel difficult 
is one of the chief concerns of the people. Hence passageways are 
invariably crooked. Open doors have screens placed before them 
necessitating a turn to the right or to the left. As the spirits are 
supposed by preference to travel only in straight and broad paths, 
the streets, lanes, and halls always contain angles and curves. The 
houses on the same street never present a straight front, but some 
of the houses are set in while others are set out. This is done to make 
trouble for the spirits. 

Note 5. The Taoist Hell. Taoism may be said to possess no 
heaven. It is but natural that a religion in which the most commonly 
recognized spirits are demons, and in which the public worship of the 
devil forms one of the greatest religious ceremonies of the year, should 
develop an abnormal interest in hell and virtually lose sight of heaven, 



A Taoist Priest. 

The rat is representative of the god of wealth 



LesS Five A Chinese Philosopher and his Work 31 

Descriptions of this Taoist region outrank any other descriptions of 
hell the world has ever heard. The tortures inflicted upon the un- 
fortunates are for the most part too horrible to be mentioned. Ex- 
tracting the nails with pincers, scratching the heart or the liver, 
chopping the body into mincemeat suggest a few of the more lenient 
penalties. 

Note 6. Contrast between Taoism and Christianity. It would 
scarcely seem necessary after what has been said to contrast Taoism 
with Christianity. Taoism is wholly evil. Its priesthood, mostly 
wretched opium smokers, is corrupt to the core. Their chief occupa- 
tion is misleading and deluding their fellow men. To-day Taoism 
contains little else. than demonology, witchcraft, superstition, spirit- 
worship, and an extensive use of charms, mystic incantations, and 
cursings. It has thoroughly debased society and well-nigh obliterated 
the divine image in the soul of man. Arm in arm, Buddhism and 
Taoism stand astride China's road to progress. The Gospel, with its 
message of a personal Saviour, with a heaven of eternal happiness, 
with release from the fearful bondage of sin here and now, with its 
glowing testimony to the divine Fatherhood and God's personal care 
for His creatures — this is the only healing remedy that can be effect- 
ually applied to the gnawing cancer of Taoism. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(z) The Taoist pope. Religions of Mission Fields, pp. 176-178. 
(2) Superstition in Taoism. Soo thill : Typical Mission in China, 
pp. 262-270. (j) Taoism and Buddhism. Giles : Religions of An- 
cient China, pp. 63-65. (4) Purgatory and hell of Taoism. Legge : 
The Religions of China, pp. 189-196, and Giles: Strange Stories from 
a Chinese Studio, vol. ii, Appendix, A. (5) Specimens of Taoist 
literature. Giles : The Sayings of Lao Tzu. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the relation of Buddhism to Hinduism? 2. At what 
points does Buddhism differ radically from Hinduism? 3. At what 
points is Buddhism like Hinduism? 4. What are the fundamental 
weaknesses of Buddhism? 5. Contrast Buddhism with Christianity. 
6. State the subject of to-day's lesson. Its object. 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. How did the term " Taoism " arise? (Note 2.) 



32 The Conquering Christ Sen Grade 

2. What is meant by " Tao "? 



3. Upon what foundation does Taoism rest? 



4. Tell what you can of the founder of Taoism. 



5. What was the twofold aim of original Taoism? 



6. How has Taoism been corrupted by Buddhism? (Note 3.) 



7. What is the relation of Taoism to the government? 



!. Characterize the Taoist priesthood of to-day. (Note 4.) 



9. Describe the idolatry of Taoism. 



10. What place does superstition hold in Taoism ? Illustrate. 



11. What is the Taoist 's general conception of the hereafter? 

(Note 5.) 



Less slx Confucius and his Followers 33 

12. State some defects of Taoism. (Note 6.) 



13. In what respects would Christianity prove an effective remedy 
for the evils of Taoism ? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Where was the insufficiency of Lao Tzu's teaching? 2. What 
does the historical development of Taoism teach with regard to the 
native religious temper of the Chinese? 3. What is there in Chris- 
tianity which gives its moral code an efficiency above that of the moral 
code of Lao Tzu? 4. What is there about Taoism that gives it its 
phenomenal hold upon the Chinese heart? 5. Would you regard the 
Taoist conception of hell as a redeeming feature of the belief? Why? 
6. How might Christianity be effectively presented to a Taoist ? 

Mission Gem. " Is not the prime- defect their ignorance of God, 
the Creator, the Father, Saviour? How can men who know not God 
know their own destiny, and how to be saved from sin? " — John H. 
De Forest. 

Personal Thought. In Taoism it is practically impossible to dis- 
cover one element of good. Such an observation naturally leads me 
to consider the excellencies of my own faith. Instead of feeding my 
pride on such a consideration, however, might I not pause to think 
of how untrue I am to the faith I profess? The Taoist professes to 
believe that the issues of his life are in the hands of demons, and he 
acts in keeping with his profession. I profess to believe that a kind 
heavenly Father is interested in my welfare and that I can trust Him 
always. Yet how often my fear or my conduct belies my profession ! 



Lesson 6. CONFUCIUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS. A 

Religion of Ethics. 

Scripture Reading : The Higher Kinship. 1 Jo. 3 : 1-11. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To sketch the life and teachings 
of Confucius, to show the fruits of modern Confucianism in the life 
of the Chinese people, and to contrast the ethical system of Confucius 
with the spiritual teachings of Christ. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. The Career of Confucius. The story of the life of Con- 
fucius is tinged with pathos. Born in the year 551 b. c, into a fam- 
ily possessing one of the finest lineages in all China, he followed Lao 



34 The Conquering Christ Sen ^ade 

Tzu by a few decades and was contemporary with Gautama. When 
he was only three years of age his father died and left wife and children 
in comparative poverty. During his early boyhood, Confucius, 
through force of circumstances, learned many of the arts of his people. 
His mind, by nature quick, readily absorbed all knowledge with which 
it was brought into contact, and at fifteen years of age he seems def- 
initely to have made up his mind to spend much of his time as a student 
and teacher. At nineteen, he married and earned a livelihood as 
caretaker of parks and herds. In this humble capacity he maintained 
a characteristic frame of mind, saying that menial service was wel- 
come to him in his poverty, and that he cared less for money than 
for the honor of discharging his duties with efficiency. When he was 
twenty-two he began his career as a teacher. About this time his 
mother died and for a while Confucius was inconsolable. More than 
two years passed before he resumed his customary life, and the lute, 
upon which he had once delighted to play, he could bring himself 
only with the greatest difficulty to touch once more. Henceforth he 
seems to have given himself entirely to teaching, spending much of 
his time for the next ten or twelve years wandering about and gather- 
ing disciples wherever he went. When he was fifty years of age, Con- 
fucius entered government employ in the province of Lu, and soon 
gave such evidence of his ability as a statesman that he was made 
minister of crime. It is said that almost immediately crime ceased. 
His principle of government was based upon what he termed " the 
rectification of names," by which he meant that when a ruler was 
ruler and a subject was subject, when a father was father and a son 
was son, the problem of authority and of government would be at an 
end. But the work of Confucius as a public official was of short dura- 
tion, owing to the lawlessness of the reigning emperor, and once again 
he took up his wanderings. He did not return to the province of Lu 
till he was sixty-nine years of age.* By that time his wife had long 
since been dead, and his son died the following year. Only four years 
of life remained to him, but ere these passed his two favorite disciples 
laid aside the affairs of this world. The heart of ancient China's 
noblest son was heavy with the sadness of disappointed hopes; the 
messenger of sorrow had visited him, and had left only bitterness be- 
hind. When death came it found him a lonely, disheartened man. 
Without a prayer and with no anticipations concerning a future life, 
Confucius entered what was for him the Great Unknown. Yet there 
can be no question as to the nobility of the man. In an age of great 
corruption he led a life of singular sweetness and purity. 

Note 3. The Ethical Principles of Confucius. The teachings of 



Less< sl x Confucius and his Followers 35 

Confucius did not gain popularity by reason of their novelty, for in 
most part what Confucius had to say had already been said, and was, 
at the time, generally believed in. The genius of Confucius lay in his 
ability to re-state, in strikingly epigrammatic form, numerous popular 
truths, while his easy familiarity with the literature of the empire 
won him wide repute. His ethical teachings, like those of Lao Tzu 
(Notes 2 and 3, Lesson 5) , rest on the ancient conception of the Chinese 
people that the earth (i. e., the Chinese empire) is the exact counter- 
part of heaven. Hence no alterations could be made in the general 
scheme of government, for the emperor on earth was the counterpart 
of the emperor in heaven, and the royal court of earth was duplicate 
of the royal court in heaven. The earthly order was, therefore, right 
and fixed. Confucius conceived of this order as involving " the five 
relationships," viz., the relationship of ruler and subject, husband and 
wife, father and son, elder and younger brother, friend and friend. 
The first four of these relationships should be marked, on the part of 
the superior person, by righteousness and benevolence; and on the 
part of the inferior person, by righteousness and sincerity. The pur- 
suit of virtue should constitute the bond and motive of friendship. 
With these principles actuating all members of human society a per- 
fect order would at once be established. This teaching of Confucius 
was pertinent to the state of society in his day, when lawlessness and 
discontent reigned. The alleviation of these conditions was the task 
to which he gave his life. A profound sympathy with men constant- 
ly impelled him. Confucius felt that he had sounded the depths 
of wisdom, and that if rulers would but adopt his principles the peo- 
ple would be reformed. 

Note 4. Confucianism as a Religion. What there was of a re- 
ligious nature in the teachings of Confucius grew naturally out of 
his ethical system. Indeed, so closely are these teachings allied with 
ethics and so little do they- partake of a religious nature that many 
writers on Confucianism have denied that it could properly be re- 
garded as a religion. Perhaps it would be more just to say that 
while Confucius taught a system of ethics, some of the teachings, 
combined with the reverential homage paid to the spirit of the de- 
parted sage by his followers, afford sufficient justification to those 
who regard Confucianism as a religion. As a matter of fact, however, 
Confucius did not even pretend to be a religious teacher. 

Before Confucius' time the religion of the country was a vague 
monotheism, but, by virtue of the mediatorial office of the emperor, 
the common people had no religious rites to perform before the Su- 
preme Ruler. Ancestor worship, also, had long been established, 



36 



The Conquering Christ 



Senior 
Grade 



and all Confucius did in regard to that custom was to codify the rules 
pertaining to the rites connected therewith. Three features of Con- 
fucianism as a religion are its teachings concerning the importance 
of worship, the nature of man, and the place of law. 

(j) The importance of worship. The worship of Heaven and the 
worship of Earth is regarded as so important that only the emperor 
can perform each ceremony once a year, the former during the winter 
solstice and the latter during the summer solstice. The worship of 
Heaven he performs in the Imperial Temple of Heaven, in the southern 
city of Peking. " There, at midnight, after three nominal days of 
fasting and prayer, he ascends the majestic three-tiered circular altar 
of white marble, which stands under the azure heavens in the center of 
its immense park. Before the tablet of Shang Ti (Emperor of Heaven) 
he bows in worship, and in addition to oblations of silk, grain, jade, 
sheep, pigs and other small animals, he offers up a burnt offering of a 
whole bullock — entire and without blemish." The ceremony is one 
of unusual solemnity, and is performed in behalf of the people. As 
the worship of the emperor in heaven is carried on by the emperor 
on earth, so the worship of lesser spirits in heaven is carried on by the 
minor officials on earth. Finally, all the host of heavenly spirits, the 

shades of the de- 
parted, are wor- 
shiped by all the 
host of men on 
earth, and ances- 
tor worship is seen 
to be directly re- 
lated to the em- 
peror's worship of 
Heaven and de- 
pendent upon the 
Chinese parallelism 
of thought between 
heaven and earth. 
There is but one 
Temple of Heaven. 
Other temples, while not numerous, are erected to the spirits of 
famous warriors, rulers, and scholars. Most cities, throughout China, 
have a temple to Confucius, and Li Hung Chang has several public 
memorial halls erected in places where he held office. Be it said to 
the credit of the Chinese that priestcraft has never been native to 
their religious temper. It was introduced into China by Buddhism, 




Confucian Temple and Worshiper. 



Le * s ™ x Confucius and his Followers 37 

was copied by Taoism, but to this day has not found its way into 
Confucianism. 

(2) The nature of man. Confucius held that man's nature is good, 
and if allowed to express itself freely will lead invariably to right 
conduct. This erroneous conclusion, like that concerning the nature 
of worship, was deduced by analogy, this time between natural law 
and moral law. Just as truly as natural law works out an orderliness 
in the physical universe, so the moral law within man, if left to itself, 
will work out a moral orderliness in the social and civic relations of 
men. It is in this connection that Confucius laid down the ethical 
law of the five relationships mentioned above. 

(j) The place of law. While Confucius seems to have been able to 
state a broad principle in but few words, he has burdened his entire 
system with a multitude of detailed laws concerning the rites and 
ceremonies of worship. Like the scribes and Pharisees of Christ's 
day he buried the spirit of religion beneath the accumulated rubbish 
of ritual and made the keeping of the law the great moral obligation 
of life. The difference between Christ and Confucius in the enuncia- 
tion of the Golden Rule lay not so much in the verbal expression of 
the rule as in the fact that with Confucius the rule was in itself the 
important thing, while with Christ it was merely incidental to a vastly 
larger program of love. 

Note 5. The Actual Fruit of Confucianism. The saying of Con- 
fucius that " the best thing to do with the spirits is to appease them 
and keep them at a distance," added to his disinclination to discuss 
religious matters, has probably operated in a large measure to lessen 
the importance of religion in the estimation of the Chinese people. 
On the analogy between heaven and earth is based all opposition to 
advancement, and the emphasis placed upon ancestor worship creates 
the feeling that all that is best lies hidden in a distant past. A pet- 
rified civilization is the child of Confucianism. The future is hopeless 
either here or hereafter. It is a noteworthy fact that suicide is more 
common in China than in any other land. In short, Confucianism 
lacks moral force, and such right conduct as its adherents may ex- 
emplify arises " less from glad conformity to inner law, than from 
compulsion of outer circumstances." Confucianism " is the great 
historic illustration of the failure of a human ethical code, with no 
acknowledged sovereignty back of it, no constraining love in it, in- 
terpreted and applied by the imperfect wisdom and the moral weak- 
ness of man." 

Note 6. Confucianism and Christianity Contrasted. Confucianism 
separates man from the Eternal, provides its adherents with no per- 



38 The Conquering Christ Sm Grade 

manent motives to pure and holy living, robs the future of all its glory 
of unspoken possibilities, and shrouds the present in gloom and dark- 
ness. In sharp contrast to these features of Confucianism, Christianity 
brings the Eternal near to all men, inspires its adherents with perma- 
nent motives to righteousness and holiness, fills the future with hope, 
and so reinterprets the meaning of the present as to make life supremely 
worth the living. Only Christianity can provide China with a full 
measure of that spiritual life and warmth which is so noticeably lack- 
ing in all of the three great religious systems of the vast empire. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(j) Life of Confucius. Clarke: Ten Great Religions, vol. i, pp. 44- 
52. (2) Confucianism as a system of worship. Religions of Mission 
Fields, pp. 192-208. (j) Worship in the Temple of Heaven. Du- 
Bose: The Dragon, Image, and Demon, ch. iv. (4) Confucianism's 
contribution to society. Dennis: Christian Missions and Social 
Progress, vol. i, pp. 385-387. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Who was Lao Tzu? 2. What relation does he bear to Taoism? 

3. What are the chief characteristics of modern Taoist worship? 

4. What is the character of the Taoist priesthood? 5. What is the 
relation between Buddhism and Taoism? 6. State the subject of 
the present lesson; its object. 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What were the circumstances of Confucius' early life? (Note 2.) 



2. To what work did he devote the best of his years? 



3. What was his career in official circles? 



4. What was it that made his teaching popular ? (Note 3.) 



Lcsso gl x Confucius and his Followers 39 

5. What was the Chinese conception of the relation of heaven and 

earth? 



6. How did this affect Confucius' teaching? 



7. Name the " five relationships " and state Confucius' conception 
of their bearing upon government and society. 



8. What was Confucius' attitude toward the social conditions of 
his day? 



9. What was the attitude of Confucius toward religion? (Note 4.) 



10. In Confucianism, what place does worship hold ? 



11. How does Confucianism regard the nature of man? of the 
moral law ? 



12. What emphasis does it place upon " works of righteousness " 



13. Mention some of the fruits of Confucianism. (Note 5.) 



14. What are some of the contrasts between Confucianism and 
Christianity? (Note 6.) 



40 The Conquering Christ 



/ 

Grade 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. From what possible corruptions has Confucianism remained 
remarkably free? Why? 2. How has ancestor worship worked out 
for good? ^ for ill? 3. What points of contact could you find with a 
Conf ucianist ? 4. Which of the commandments would be a good text 
for a sermon to Conf uci'anists ? Why? 5. Contrast Hinduism with 
Confucianism. 6. Which religion, Confucianism or Taoism, is the 
more spiritual? which the more practical? which the more satisfy- 
ing to the human heart ? which the better for social welfare ? 

Mission Gem. " I admire and reverence those devoted men and 
women [the missionaries], and I regard them as taking to China pre- 
cisely the commodities of which she stands most in need, namely, a 
spiritual religion and a morality based on the fear of God and the love 
of man." — Sir Edwin Arnold. 

Personal Thought. The ethical system organized by Confucius 
was fashioned by a profound understanding of human nature. But 
its failure to make adequate provision for the spiritual needs of man 
rendered the system impotent as an agency for the cultivation of 
righteousness. Yet how many are to-day making the same mistake 
of supposing ethics to possess the efficacy of religion ! Am I endeavor- 
ing to satisfy myself with a moral code in lieu of a religious faith ? 



Lesson 7. SHINTOISM, THE NATIVE RELIGION OF 
JAPAN. Its Influence in the Sunrise Kingdom. 

Scripture Reading: The Missionary Enterprise in the Model Prayer. Mt. 6 :5-15. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show some of the leading char- 
acteristics of Shinto worship, its strength and its weaknesses, and 
the moral effect produced on its followers. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. The Nature and Development of Shintoism. Shintoism, 
or Shinto, which means " the way of the gods," has been from time 
immemorial the national religion of the Japanese, and has never 
spread beyond the confines of the Island Kingdom. It is a religion 
without a dogma unless we regard as its creed the general injunction 
" follow your own natural impulses, and obey the laws of the state." 
Compare this with Confucianism [Lesson 6, Note 4, (2)]. The sacred 
books of the religion, consisting mainly of mythical stories, are known 
to date from the eighth century of the present era, but the origin of 
Shintoism is lost in a distant past. There is now little doubt that in 
its earliest form it was pure nature-worship (see Glossary) in which 
the sun goddess Amaterasu was accorded first place among the di- 



Less see Shintoism, the Native Religion of Japan 41 

vinities. Under Chinese influence, the Shintoists adopted ancestor 
worship, and the Japanese Mikado ultimately came to be regarded 
as directly descended from Amaterasu. The Japanese proudly claim 
that their imperial family runs back in an unbroken line to its begin- 
ning more than 2,500 years ago. Throughout this period the Mikado 
has been an object of divine worship, too sacred for ordinary men to 
behold. The fact that religion and the state 'are so closely blended, 
has quickened patriotism and repeatedly preserved the country from 
revolution. Until recently Shintoism has retained a strong hold upon 
the Japanese, but to-day it is the most decadent of all the great re- 
ligions. 

Note 3. Objects of Shinto Worship. Shintoism is still primarily 
a nature religion, and in its belief that natural objects are abodes of 
deity it approaches Taoism. The most commonly worshiped object 
in pure Shintoism, next to the sun, is the moon. Then one earthly 
object after another — mountains, hills, streams, lakes, trees — until 
the system is said to include eight million gods, i. e., it becomes thor- 
oughly pantheistic. Anything within the whole realm of physical 
creation may become a proper object of worship. In the ancestor 
worship of Shintoism there is a close approximation to the ancestor 
worship of Confucianism. With the deification of the Mikado there 
arose a like deification of the spirits of sages, heroes and ancestors. 
Through hero worship the people have learned something of national 
history, and the numerous pictures of battle scenes and heroic deeds, 
invariably found at the hero shrines, have helped to nourish the sense 
of patriotism. At other shrines pictures representing the nature 
deities to whom the shrine is erected are crudely daubed over the door 
or lattice work. The fox shrine is very common. By some persons 
these pictures have been regarded as objects of Shinto worship. But, 
as a matter of fact, though Shintoism has fallen into much corruption 
along other lines, it never has adopted idolatry. Of the ancient sys- 
tem modern Shintoism preserves little beyond a superstitious worship 
of the spirits of ancestors, minor nature deities, and the more general 
worship of local patron deities. 

Note 4. Shinto Shrines and Ceremonies. Shintoism has no tem- 
ples. As there is no preaching and no doctrine to be taught, there is 
no need of an auditorium or assembly hall. The grove or court in 
which the shrine is usually located provides ample space for the wor- 
shipers. The shrine is a simple, houselike structure, usually twelve to 
eighteen feet in length and width, made of plain, unpainted wood, and 
shingled or thatched with bark. It has an opening in the front, and is 



42 



The Conquering Christ 



Senior 
Grade 



entered only by the priest. The altar within the shrine, which may be 
partially seen through the opening, is supposed to contain three sacred 
objects — a sword, a crystal, and a mirror. Yet it is said that only 
one out of the 58,070 public shrines in the kingdom possesses all three. 
Nothing but the mirror is to be seen by the worshiper, and even this 
object is frequently wanting in the altar equipment. Its purpose 
seems originally to have been ' ' to bring the worshiper face to face with 
himself," i. e., to aid in a self-examination and thereby induce a de- 
sire to live a better life. The worshipers approach the shrine individ- 
ually, ring the bell, clap the hands and perform acts of devotion. 
These acts include obeisances, prayers, and the leaving of some sac- 
rificial food-stuff before the shrine. 

In connection with the shrine, two other religious structures should 
be mentioned, viz., the tori-i, or gateway to the shrine, and the shokon, 

sl memorial monu- 
ment. The tori-i is 
usually found in close 
proximity to the place 
of worship, and gen- 
erally before an ap- 
proach to the shrine 
or erected at the foot 
of a long flight of 
steps leading up to 
the sacred precincts. 
While not regarded 
as places of worship, 
they are looked upon 
as pieces of sacred 
architecture, and suc- 
cessfully to toss up a 
stone on the top of a tori-i is an assurance of good luck. The shokon 
is a monument erected to soldiers who have died in battle, the spirits 
of whom are supposed to gather about the structure. This memorial 
is sometimes a simple stone monolith, sometimes a more ornate bronze 
or granite monument in connection with which is a small memorial 
shrine, called a shokon-sha. When memorial services in honor of the 
dead are held, voluntary offerings of fruits, meats, vegetables and 
drink are placed before the shrine, and Shinto priests intone the me- 
morial service, while the attending generals, civil officials, relatives of 
the dead, and populace, make numerous salutes and bows in token of 
their reverence for the departed. 




A Tori-i, or Shrine Gateway, Japan. 

In its simplest form the tori-i consists of two uprights, usually 
tree trunks, joined by two overhanging crosspieces. The original form 
has given way in many instances to artistic structures which, how- 
ever, preserve the primitive outline. 



Less se'e Shintoism-, the Native Religion of Japan 43 

Note 5. The Influence of Progressive Learning upon Shinto Wor- 
ship. Advanced learning has radically changed the attitude of a 
large proportion of the Japanese toward Shintoism. Thirty years 
ago the worship of the rising sun was well-nigh universal throughout 
the empire; to-day it is scarcely practised at all, this change being 
directly traceable to the spread of geographical and astronomical 
knowledge. Were an official to be asked if the service before a shokon- 
sha were religious, he would reply, " No, it is our way of paying re- 
spect to our dead, much as you hold memorial services in commemora- 
tion of those who fell in your civil war. ' ' When a missionary asked a 
high Japanese official how the emperor was to be regarded, the prompt 
reply was, " He is a man, not a god." The present government ap- 
propriations to several Shinto shrines are for the preservation of these 
shrines merely as historic monuments. The conductors of the great 
Ise Shrine, the headquarters of Shintoism, seeing that their cult 
" could not successfully compete with real religion, have converted 
it into a purely secular organization, whose main business it is to 
nourish the spirit of reverent patriotism." 

While it thus appears that Shintoism is not now generally regarded 
as a religion by the educated Japanese, it is nevertheless true that 
among the uneducated people, and in the interior towns and villages, 
this ancient religion has by no means lost its hold upon the children 
of Nippon. The great majority of the homes of the common people 
have their god shelves containing the tori-i and shrines before which 
ceremonies of worship are carried on, incense is burned and prayers 
are offered. The object of the worship may be one of the numerous 
nature deities, or the spirit of an immediate ancestor, or of a brother 
or son killed on the field of battle. 

Note 6. The Evil and the Good of Shintoism. (/) The evil of Shintoism. 
The evil of Shintoism appears in the vast number of superstitions 
to which it gives rise. There are gods of every known fortune or mis- 
fortune, of weather, of health, of disease, of business, and of personal 
character and ability. The aid of these is constantly sought, and the 
use of charms is extensively practised. The merchant prays to the 
god of wealth for a fortune; the soldier wears a charm to protect him 
from foreign bullets. 

More ominous, however, than superstition, is the immorality in- 
cident to the old-time worship of the life-giving gods. Let the student 
of Oriental religions remember that the two great questions of the 
race are " Whence? " and " Whither? " In the endeavor of the an- 
cients to answer the former, the life-giving principle became associated 
with the religious thought. Even the Christian conception of the 



44 The Conquering Christ Sm Grade 

sacredness of marriage exhibits a survival of the tendency to associ- 
ate the mystery of life with the religious impulse. While undoubt- 
edly the worship of the life-giving gods was originally carried on by 
persons whose innocence and sincerity were beyond question, they 
nevertheless gave rise to so dangerous a state of immorality that the 
government sought to suppress the worship, not entirely with success. 
But to-day the language and literature of Japan, now that the re- 
ligious element has been removed from old forms and objects of wor- 
ship, presents much that is disgusting and obscene. Practices once 
preserved from indecency by religious considerations have now de- 
generated into national vice. 

(2) The good of Shintoism. Shintoism in its pure form, though 
lacking moral and doctrinal codes, is not burdened with priestcraft. 
Nor in all its complex system of nature worship, pantheism and hero 
worship, has Shintoism ever fallen into the general practice of idol- 
atry. The one ethical element in Shintoism is purity. Of the three 
sacred objects (Note 4), the crystal typifies this characteristic, and 
the one outstanding prayer of the Shintoist before the shrine is, 
' ' Cleanse me ! Cleanse me ! ' ' The only sin known to Shintoism is 
uncleanness or impurity, and the only impurity is ceremonial defile- 
ment. Though so narrow a conception of purity has brought much 
evil, yet out of this feature of Shintoism has grown that national 
trait which has made the Japanese people proverbial for cleanliness 
and neatness. So true is this, and so powerful has been the influence 
for cleanliness that Shintoism was purged of its immodest features 
by Imperial edict. The emperor worship of Shintoism has given rise 
to a spirit of most loyal patriotism, of unparalleled bravery on the 
field of battle, and of utmost respect for government. In the Russo- 
Japanese war men gave themselves to death in utter abandon. The 
worship of ancestors has preserved the institution of the family from 
disintegration, while at the same time it has prepared the way for the 
Christian doctrine of immortality. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(7) Sacred writings of Shintoism — the Kojiki and the Nihongi. 
Chamberlain: Kojiki (a trans.). Aston: Nihongi (a trans.). Knox: 
Development of Religion in Japan, Lect. ii. (2) Shinto worship and 
ceremony. Aston: Shinto, chs. vi and vii. (j) Emphasis on 
cleanliness. Griffis: Dux Christus, pp. 110-112. The Religions of 
Japan, pp. 84-86. (4) The influence of Buddhism upon Shintoism. 
Bliss: Encyc. of Missions, suet. " Shintoism." 



LeS8 Seven Shintoism, the Native Religion of Japan 45 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Who was Confucius, and when did he live? 2. To what extent did 
religious considerations enter into his work? 3. What was the under- 
lying principle of the Confucian ethics? 4. What weaknesses attach 
to Confucianism? what creditable features? 5. What is the subject 
of the present study? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is the meaning of the word " Shinto "? (Note 2.) 



2. Tell what you can of early Shintoism. 



3. What effect did the commingling of religious and political con- 
siderations have upon the Japanese ? 



4. To what extent do we find nature- worship in Shintoism? (Note 
3.) 



5. How do hero and ancestor worship enter into Shintoism? 



6. Describe a Shinto shrine. (Note 4.) 



7. What objects are supposed to rest on a Shinto altar? 



8. How does a Shintoist worship? 



46 The Conquering Christ m Sen Gmde 

9. What is a tori-if a shokon? 



10. State what influence modern learning has had upon Shinto 
worship. (Note 5.) 



11. What is the present status of Shintoismi 



12. What evils arise out of Shintoism? (Note 6.) 



13. From what common features of Oriental religions is Shintoism 
free? 



14. What points of contact with Christianity has Shintoism? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What likenesses and differences do you see between Shintoism 
and Confucianism? 2. To what extent would a good citizen be a 
Shintoist? 3. To what extent does the Mosaic precept, "Honor thy 
father and thy mother," approach the ancestor worship of the Jap- 
anese?" 4. If you were in Japan would you hesitate to take part in 
the memorial services to soldiers? Give the reason for your answer. 
5. What ennobling elements are contained in sun worship and hero 
worship? 6. How would you approach a Japanese on the subject of 
Christianity? 

Mission Gem. " In whatever direction we look, we can scarcely 
fail to find evidences of the direct or indirect influence of Christianity 
upon the civilization of New Japan." — Prof. E. W. Clement. 

Personal Thought. The Shintoism of Japan has been pithily sum- 
marized by an American writer as " living so that our forefathers 
shall not be ashamed of us." The consciousness of parental regard 
for the acts of children may become a strong factor in the develop- 
ment of a noble life. " What would father think? " " What would 
mother say if she knew? " Ought I not to give such thoughts more 
frequent place in the determination of my conduct? 



Less ^ight The Monotheism of Israel 47 

Lesson 8. THE MONOTHEISM OF ISRAEL. A Study of 
Modern Judaism. 

Scripture Reading: The Zion that Shall be. Is.ch. 35. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To sketch in brief the development, 
doctrinal characteristics and trend of modern Judaism, and to contrast 
Judaism with Christianity. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Development of Judaism. The rise of Christianity did 
not mark the end of Judaism; but the overthrow of the Jewish state, 
the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, and the scattering of the 
Jews in the first century of our era necessitated a reorganization of 
Judaism and a recasting of many of its religious conceptions. In 
place of the temple, the synagogue became henceforth the center of 
the religious life. When sacrifices could not be continued, prayer 
took its place. The ground of pardon and atonement was shifted 
from the blood of bulls to personal penitence, as the prophets had for 
centuries demanded. 

The literary activity of early Christianity finds a parallel in that of 
the new Judaism of the, same period. For centuries the Jews had 
possessed practically two bodies of law, the Mosaic legislation, and 
the Mishna which treated of the minutiae of ritual. The Mishna, 
unlike the Mosaic law, had never been committed to writing, but had 
been handed down orally from generation to generation. After the 
destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews it seemed that 
the time had come for putting the Mishna into written form. This 
task was completed by Rabbi Judah the Holy in 190 a.d. Numerous 
Mishna commentaries (Gemara), many of which were petty and 
childish, had grown up during the course of centuries and were 
regarded as of equal or even of greater value than the Scriptures 
themselves. Therefore, after Rabbi Judah had compiled the Mishna, 
other scholars gradually collected the Gemara. This work was com- 
pleted in Babylon prior to the 6th century, and Mishna and Gemara 
together were called the Talmud. A third collection of Jewish sacred 
literature, regarded as scarcely second to the Mishna, is the Bereitha, 
a miscellaneous collection of religious teachings, symbols, and para- 
bles. In the 16th century Joseph Caro compiled the Shulchan Aruk 
(Table Prepared), a collection of the entire traditional law. Under 
this code four-fifths of the Jews still live. Since the scattering of the 
Jews and the dissolution of the Sanhedrin, Judaism has had no central 
authority. Its organization is strictly congregational. 



48 The Conquering Christ SeU Grade 

Note 3. Doctrinal Features of Judaism. From the days of Abra- 
ham till the present the covenant idea has permeated Judaism. In 
this covenant Jehovah is recognized as Israel's God, and Israel as 
Jehovah's chosen people. The seal of the covenant is the rite of 
circumcision. While neither the covenant idea nor circumcision can 
strictly be termed a doctrine, they are both thoroughly characteristic 
marks of Judaism. 

The principal doctrines of Judaism are : (i) The unity of God. 
Among idolatrous nations and in the midst of trinitarian neighbors, 
. Israel has stood as an unflinching advocate of the worship of Jehovah 
and of Jehovah alone. Jehovah has faithfully been recognized as 
omnipotent, omniscient, unchanging, the one God and Lord over all, 
" merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkind- 
ness and truth; keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniq- 
uity and transgression and sin." (Ex. 34:6, 7). 

(2) Sin and atonement. Judaism regards sin as an act rather than as 
a state or condition of life. Hence righteousness also is an act rather 
than a condition. It follows that if obedience to law constitutes 
virtue and righteousness, then disobedience constitutes vice and sin. 
In this view of the nature of sin there can be no atonement such as 
Christian theology recognizes. " Atonement," to quote a Jewish 
scholar, " is reversion to obedience." Sorrow for disobedience to 
law and effort to live in conformity to law is the only atonement 
known to modern Judaism. 

(j) The Jewish conception of law. There have always been re- 
ligious teachers in Israel. who have seen clearly that the spirit was of 
vastly greater moment than the letter, and have advocated the sac- 
rifice of thanksgiving rather than that of bulls and goats, men who 
voiced the inner and deeper meaning of Judaism. Yet, in spite of 
this spiritual content, Judaism has practiced a legalism, an adherence 
to law and rite, that has well-nigh crushed out spontaneity and initia- 
tive in the religious life of its people. 

(4) The meaning of prayer. To the Jew, prayer is an expression 
of submission. Christianity asserts the objective validity of prayer; 
Judaism does not. Indeed, it is even said that the man who prays 
and expects his petition to move God to a favorable answer is at once 
both arrogant and sinful. The ideal form of Jewish prayer is given 
in the Talmud: " Do Thy will in heaven above, and grant content- 
ment of spirit to those that fear Thee below; and that which is good 
in Thine eyes do. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who hearest prayer." 

(5) Eternal life. The Jew looks upon death as merely an incident 
in life, and believes that in the hereafter the soul will be free to grow 



LeS8 $ ght ■ The Monotheism of Israel 49 

and expand as it cannot here. The tendency within Judaism is to 
regard salvation as universal. The unrighteous will have opportunity 
to work out his salvation, while the righteous, whose aims and aspira- 
tions were never fully realized, will realize them in the world to come. 
This is all that the Jew means by future reward and punishment. It 
should be added that the Jew conceives of a future life as purely 
spiritual. While the conceptions of a bodily resurrection, and sub- 
sequent physical torture or physical pleasure, have at times found 
their way into Jewish theology, they have been generally rejected by 
the best Jewish teachers. 

Note 4. Orthodox Judaism. Modern Judaism is divided into a 
number of sects, but in general it may be said that it embraces two 
great parties, viz., the Orthodox and the Reformed. These parties 
differ not so much in doctrine as in practice; nor so much in practice 
as in spirit and attitude toward the progressive ideals of modern 
society. The orthodox Jews conduct their services largely according 
to ancient usages, though many of the rites prescribed in the law 
have fallen into disuse. Such changes as have found their way into 
Orthodox Judaism have been admitted under the compulsion of cir- 
cumstances; they have never been welcomed. Extremely orthodox 
Jews aim to obey Mosaic and Talmudic precepts as far as social and 
political conditions permit. 

Orthodox Judaism accepts the Old Testament as authoritative 
and inspired, but unfortunately many of the orthodox Jews know 
little of its spiritual import. The Messianic hope, if entertained at 
all, is commonly regarded as referring to a coming general era of 
righteousness, though extreme orthodoxy still holds to the belief in 
the personal Messiah. The orthodox Jew venerates the Talmud 
above all things. He holds that the oral law contained in it (see 
Note 2) was given to Moses on Sinai, and, being explanatory of the 
written law, it is regarded as of equal permanence and even superior 
authority. No human teacher or tribunal may abrogate or modify 
the least of its precepts. The reaction in recent times against this 
slavish adherence to outgrown belief and practices, where it has not 
led to a complete abandonment of religious life, has resulted in the 
rise of a Reformed Judaism. 

Note 5. Reformed Judaism. Early in the last century it began 
to be evident to many of the Jews resident in the more progressive 
centers of Germany that the religion in which they had been reared 
was out of joint with the times in which they were living. The rabbis 
were wholly lacking in sympathy with the progressive spirit of the 



50 The Conquering Christ Sen Gmde 

age. Against this situation the younger generation rebelled. The 
laymen took the matter of reform largely into their own hands. They 
urged that the services be shortened, that they be conducted chiefly 
in the language of the country, and that a sermon be introduced into 
the weekly synagogue service. The liberal element in Judaism took 
an open stand in regard to the Talmud and the Old Testament in 
violent contrast to that of the conservatives. The issue between the 
two parties became clearly defined, conservatives holding that " every 
minor law codified in the Shulchan Aruk (Table Prepared) was of equal 
validity with any religious command of the Bible." To-day, many 
of the reformed Jews no longer look upon even the Old Testament as 
divinely inspired writings, but as the personal opinions of men, to be 
received or not according as they commend themselves to the indi- 
vidual judgment. Reformed Judaism advocates the simple ethical 
monotheism of the ancient prophets. 

Perhaps the significance of the liberal movement can hardly better 
be illustrated than by contrasting reformed and orthodox services. 
Prayers are made in the vernacular, not in the Hebrew as formerly; 
congregational hymns and singing by mixed choirs are introduced, 
and the pipe organ or other instrumental music is employed, this in 
sharp contrast to the orthodox service, where no instrumental music 
is permitted; women no longer occupy a separate gallery, but are 
found as occupants, with the men, of the family pews; the men no 
longer are seen worshiping with covered heads, but with their hats 
removed. Instead of the " bar-mitzvah " service for boys, when 
they were brought into the Jewish church as " sons of the command- 
ment," there are now confirmation services for both boys and girls; 
and in place of the old marriage ceremony, in which the benediction 
ran, " Praised be Thou, O Lord our God, who hast not made me a 
woman," there has been established a form in which recognition is 
given to the equality of woman with man. 

Note 6. The Zionist Movement. No movement of recent years 
among the Jews is more worthy of note than Zionism. While this 
movement doubtless gains its primary significance as a political agita- 
tion, it is not without religious meaning. The aim of the movement 
is to purchase back the soil of Palestine until it shall once more become 
the national possession of the Jews. Until about a year ago Jewish 
purchase of Palestinian lands was prohibited under the Turkish gov- 
ernment, but now the ban has been removed and already the greater 
part of Jerusalem outside the walls is in Jewish hands. Other tracts 
of land have been purchased, are being used as colonial sites for re- 
turning Jews, and are worked as farm-lands. In Jerusalem the 



LeS EiQht The Monotheism of Israel 51 

National Museum and the Bezalel Art School both stand on Jewish 
land. It is expected that shortly the site of Jericho, the first city to 
fall into the hands of ancient Israel upon entering Palestine, will once 
more be in the hands of Jews. It is needless to say that the Christian 
world is watching the movement with deep interest. 

This movement is advocated by both Orthodox and Reformed 
Jews, though as a matter of fact it naturally makes its strongest ap- 
peal to oppressed Jews, and for the most part these are the Orthodox. 
Reformed Judaism, being not racial, nationalistic, nor material, but 
universal and spiritual, emphasizes the function of Judaism as a re- 
ligion, rather than the separateness of Jews as a nation. Now while 
the Zionist believes in this universalistic end of the reformed Jew, he 
believes also that a necessary prerequisite to the universal extension 
of his faith is the national reorganization of Judaism and its re-es- 
tablishment in Palestine. Many reformed Jews express their sympa- 
thetic interest in the movement by generous contributions to the work. 

Note 7. Judaism and Christianity. From the foregoing descrip- 
tion it is apparent that Judaism closely approaches Unitarianism. 
So far as it does so, it is open to trinitarian criticism. Furthermore, 
the doctrines of prayer and of the future life are not in keeping with 
views which Christians hold to be more in accord with Scriptural 
representations. But the real question between Jew and Christian 
to-day is the same as it was nineteen centuries ago. If Christ's 
words were true, and His own representations of Himself worthy of 
credence, then the Jew is wrong. If otherwise, then the Christian is 
wrong. The Christian believes in the self-revelation of Christ, and 
by spiritual experience has found assurance for his faith and a suf- 
ficiency for his life. Orthodox Judaism is proving its inadequacy, 
and Reformed Judaism tends more and more to resolve itself into a 
philosophical system of pure ethical Theism. There is no figure in 
Judaism comparable to the personal Redeemer of Christianity, and 
no central source of spiritual energy like the Christ of Calvary. Juda- 
ism is condemned not so much by what it has, as by what it has not. 
Because the Jew is always responsive to his environment, Christianity 
will commend itself to him most readily not by argument, never by 
persecution, but by its sympathy, helpfulness, kindness, and loyalty 
to the high religious ideals which it professes. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(z) Religious life among the lowly of Israel. Zangwill : Children 
of the Ghetto (refer to chapter headings in table of contents). (2) Se- 
lections from, and an estimate of, the Talmud. Barclay : The Talmud. 



52 The Conquering Christ SeU Gradc 

(j) History and aims of Zionism. Max Nordau : Zionism. (4) Re- 
form movement in American Judaism. Philipson : Reform Move- 
ment in Judaism, ch. xii. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What religions have we thus far studied? 2. Have any of these 
religions employed the Bible as sacred literature? 3. What does a 
Shintoist worship? 4. Mention the good qualities of Shintoism. 

5. At what points does it compare unfavorably with Christianity? 

6. What religion do we study to-day? State the object of the lesson. 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. How did certain historical developments early in the first century 
modify Judaism? (Note 2.) 



2. What are the sacred books of modern Judaism i 



3. How does the organization of the Jewish church of to-day com- 
pare with that of Jesus' day? 



4. Does the Jewish doctrine of sin and atonement commend itself 
to you? Why? (Note 3.) 



5. What is the relation of law to Judaism i 



6. Characterize the Jewish conception of prayer. Of eternal life. 



7. State the chief differences between Orthodox and Reformed 
Judaism. (Note 4.) 



8. What is the orthodox Jew's relative valuation of Bible and 
Talmud? 



LesS Ei M The Monotheism of Israel 53 

9. Sketch the origin of the reform movement among the Jews. 
(Note 5.) 



10. Describe a church service of Reformed Judaism. 



11. What is the significance of the Zionist movement? (Note 6.) 



12. State the issue between Judaism and Christianity. (Note 7.) 



13. What arguments can you advance in favor of the Christian 
position ? 



14. Yet, by what will Christianity most commend itself to the Jew? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Does Judaism merit sympathetic consideration by Christianity? 
Why? 2. What features of progressive civilization are in conflict 
with Orthodox Judaism? 3. Does Reformed Judaism effectually 
escape the difficulties of Orthodoxy? State the reasons for your 
answer. 4. In what respect, if any, does Judaism appear superior 
to Christianity ? 5. What is your estimate of the future of Orthodox 
Judaism? of Reformed Judaism? 

Mission Gem. " Deep underneath the rubbish which modern 
Judaism has heaped upon the teaching of the Old Testament, there 
is in very many Jewish hearts the real, deep consciousness of spiritual 
need and helplessness." — Louis Meyer. 

Personal Thought. The Zionist movement has been regarded as a 
legitimate result of anti-Semitic persecutions and as a striking com- 
mentary on Christian intolerance. Practically all persecution of the 
Jew may be laid at the doors of Christian communities. Have I 
personally been guilty of unchristian thought or act toward this 
people? My Christ was one of them; and, for His own name's sake, 
shall I not esteem them as being precious in His sight ? 



54 The Conquering Christ 8en ®rade 

Lesson 9. THE PROPHET OF ALLAH. Beliefs and Fruits 
of Mohammedanism. 

Scripture Reading: The Christian Conception of Heaven. Jo. 15:1-14. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To set forth the relation of Moham- 
medanism and Christianity, to contrast it with the latter faith, and to 
point out its significant development. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. The Relation of Mohammedanism to Judaism and Christian- 
ity. Mohammedanism acknowledges the authority of the Jewish Old 
Testament and the Christian New. By so doing it at once becomes 
related both to Judaism and to Christianity. This relation, moreover, 
is both historical and doctrinal. Historically, Mohammedanism arose 
as a heretical Christian sect, and for many years was classed as such by 
the ecclesiastical writers. There is much evidence that even Moham- 
med himself and his immediate followers regarded the Abyssinian 
Christians, who denied the Godhead of Christ, as co-religionists with 
themselves. Mohammed even acknowledged the unique sinlessness 
and deathlessness of Christ. But the Christianity acceptable to 
Mohammed was a Christianity completely molded after a Jewish 
pattern. Jesus was the Messiah of the Old Testament, but He was 
not the divine Son; He was a prophet but He was not a Redeemer. 
Mohammedanism, furthermore, approaches Judaism more closely than 
it approaches Christianity, in its emphasis upon the unity of God, upon 
the idea of a divinely chosen people, and upon the sanctity of a religious 
center leading to pilgrimages. 

Note 3. Mohammed, the Prophet of Allah. Mohammed was born in 
the year 570 a.d. at Mecca. He came of an illustrious family and was 
closely related to the reigning line within the tribe, though he and his 
immediate family were poor and had little to do with the actual 
government. Until he was five years of age he was separated from his 
mother, according to a common custom among the Arabian tribes, and 
when he was six his mother died, leaving him an orphan. He was pro- 
vided with a home by an influential uncle, for whom in the later years 
of his life he tended sheep. It is said that as a boy he was of a dreamy 
turn of mind, and subject to epileptic fits. His first contact with 
Christianity was experienced when, at the age of twelve, he accom- 
panied his uncle on a commercial venture to Syria. The commercial 
life appealed to him, and at the age of twenty-five he undertook a com- 
mission for a wealthy widow, who was so pleased with the outcome of 
it that, though more than twice the age of Mohammed, she married him. 



Less mne The Pro P ket of Allah 55 

Mohammed's distinctly religious career opened at the age of forty, 
when he began to give himself up to long vigils and deep meditation. 
In the course of these he finally came to believe himself the divinely 
appointed religious leader of his people. The social life of Moham- 
med's day among his own people was very low. Idolatry and super- 
stition prevailed throughout Arabia. He perceived the superiority of 
Judaism and Christianity over the religion of his countrymen, and on 
the basis of these he built his own doctrinal structure. There can be 
no doubt as to his sincerity. When the tribal leaders were seeking his 
life, his uncle pleaded with him to renounce his cause. But Moham- 
med replied, " Though they should set the sun on my right hand and 
the moon on my left to persuade me, yet while God commands me I 
will not renounce my purpose." Nor is it to be denied that in giving 
to his people a new faith Mohammed lifted them, in some respects, to a 
far higher plane than they had ever known before. For a period of 
twenty-two years with untiring zeal he gave himself to the spread of 
his religious ideas; during the first ten of these his incessant labors 
were carried on amidst bitter persecution. In the latter part of this 
period he had free recourse to the sword, and was guilty of a number 
of violations of his own laws, and even captained a group of bandits 
who despoiled Mecca pilgrims. Sincere religiosity on the one hand 
and culpable lawlessness on the other hand found equal exemplification 
in his character. Yet within his lifetime he exercised a profound 
influence upon the religious conceptions of a wild and warlike people. 
His religion consolidated the crude and mutually hostile tribes of the 
desert into the Arabian nation, which only failed to preserve its 
national identity when the powerful religious force which had created 
it drew to the standard of the crescent alien people who wrested the 
scepter of power from the Bedouin tribes and scattered them once 
more over the desert sands. At the age of sixty-two, Mohammed died 
at Mecca, and the room in which he breathed his last is now included 
within the precincts of the Great Mosque. 

Note 4. The Scriptures and Tenets of Mohammedanism. Besides 
the Old and New Testaments, Mohammedanism claims a third col- 
lection of religious writings, called the Koran, and accredited with 
greater authority than any other sacred book. The Koran is a series 
of 114 unrelated chapters, each purporting to be a distinct revelation 
given by God to Mohammed. The orthodox view of the Koran is that 
it has existed from eternity in a heavenly copy, the archetype of all 
earthly copies, and that therefore every word of the book is inspired. 
Verbal inspiration is the only kind which the Mohammedans recognize. 



56 



The Conquering Christ 



Senior 
Grade 



The fundamental doctrine of Mohammedanism consists of but seven 
Arabic words which, translated, read : " There is no God but Allah, and 
Mohammed is His prophet." Five times a day this formula rings out 
from the minarets of every Mohammedan mosque throughout the 
world. " It is a battle cry and a cradle song, an exclamation of delight, 
and a funeral dirge." Moslem authorities summarize the seven tenets 
of their faith in the following creed : " I believe in God, in the Angels, 
in the Books, in the Apostles, in the Last Day, in the Decrees of Al- 
mighty God, both as respects good and evil, and in the Resurrection 
after death." With regard to God, chief emphasis is laid upon His 
absolute unity and omnipotence. Angels, created out of light, are 
very numerous and possess the power of speech and reason. They are 
regarded as inferior to prophets. The books referred to in the creed 

are said originally to 
have numbered one 
hundred and four, of 
which only four re- 
main, viz., the Pen- 
tateuch of Moses, the 
Psalms of David, the 
Gospel of Christ, and 
the Koran of Moham- 
med. The Moslem 
believes that the 
books were written 
by one hundred and 
forty-four thousand 
prophets (apostles), 
of whom the Koran 
makes mention of 
twenty-eight. Six of 
these are the great 
prophets, viz., Adam, 
Noah, Abraham, 
Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. The Last Day and the Resurrection 
are contemplated by the Mohammedan with intense delight, for they 
mark the entrance of every true Mohammedan into Paradise, which the 
Koran pictures as a voluptuous pleasure court, abundantly provided 
with pillowed couches, banqueting tables the wine of which brings no 
sorrow with it, and a surfeit of beautiful dark-eyed maidens. It is 
merely an Oriental harem of princely proportions and magnificence. 
On a level with the creed of Mohammedanism are the five practical 




Mosque of St. Sophia, Constantinople. 

This building, originally a Christian church, is one of the finest spec- 
imens of Byzantine architecture. In its construction many ancient 
temples were ransacked for costly marbles and rare pillars. It was 
begun in 532, cost over five million dollars, and -was converted into 
a Mohammedan Mosque in 1453. 



LesS Nine The P ro P he t of Allah 57 

duties imposed upon every Moslem. The first of these is the frequent 
repetition of the fundamental formula, " There is no God but Allah, 
and Mohammed is his prophet." By this means the Moslem bears 
outstanding testimony to his faith. The second is the reciting of 
stated prayers. This the faithful adherent does wherever he may be 
or in whatever occupation engaged. Fasting is rigorously adhered to 
at appointed times. Almsgiving, while theoretically without regard 
to the faith of the recipient, is practically confined to fellow Moham- 
medans. The pilgrimage to Mecca, the last of the five practical 
duties, must be performed by every adult Mohammedan at least once 
during his lifetime. He may, however, provide a substitute and 
himself receive the benefit of the pilgrimage. Poor Mohammedans 
who cannot go contribute to a common fund and send one of their num- 
ber as a representative, all sharing in the merit thus derived. 

Note 5. The Growth, Importance and Aggressiveness of this Faith. 

Though the earlier years of Mohammed's propaganda were not attended 
with remarkable success, the latter years witnessed a marvelous 
spread of the new faith. In the year 628, about eighteen years after he 
began his religious career, he was able to gather beneath his standard 
but 1500 immediate adherents. . Two years later he was at the head 
of a body of 10,000 men who entered Mecca in triumph, while in the 
year 632 over 40,000 followers accompanied him on his farewell pil- 
grimage to the holy city. From that time forward the Arabian flame 
of religious zeal was fanned till it assumed the proportions of a forest 
fire, and swept every vestige of the old faith of the desert before it. 
Breaking beyond the bounds of Arabia it extended its sway northward 
through Palestine, Syria, and Persia, and westward through Egypt and 
northern Africa, and from Africa, as if by magic, it leaped across the 
Mediterranean and found welcome soil in Spain. To-day its heavy 
hand lies upon the majority of the nations of the world. Its adherents 
number in India, over sixty millions; Africa, fifty millions; China, 
thirty millions; Malay archipelago, twenty-nine millions, and Russia, 
thirteen millions. Its followers number in all more than two hundred 
millions. 

The importance of Mohammedanism as a world movement of to-day 
cannot be overestimated. Its conception of the Mohammedan ad- 
herents as God's chosen people, of the state as merely a department of 
the religion, and of its mission as the winning of the world — these ideas 
are becoming potent motive forces in the lives of thousands of Moham- 
medans. Sectarian lines are being wiped out in a pan-Islam move- 
ment, the ultimate force of which cannot be foretold. Mohammedan- 



58 The Conquering Christ Sen arade 

ism's tremendous organization is engaged in a widespread missionary- 
endeavor. Carlyle's lecture on Mohammedanism is printed and cir- 
culated as a Mohammedan tract. These facts are interpreted by many 
students of the movement as an evidence of crisis. It is Mohamme- 
danism's last attempt to gain and hold the world. It is an effort to off- 
set the devastations which the spread of modern learning is making in 
its ranks. Advancement and progress are incompatible with belief in 
the Koran. If one comes the other must go. The genius of Moham- 
medanism is against the spirit of democracy, a fact which, regarded in 
the light of the political reforms now in progress in Turkey and Persia, 
means that the future of Mohammedanism will largely depend upon its 
attitude toward those reforms. 

Note 6. Mohammedanism and Christianity. In several respects 
Mohammedanism and Christianity profess a common faith. Both are 
intensely hostle to idolatry, both make much of prayer, both carry on a 
wide missionary propaganda. Mohammedanism is the greatest tem- 
perance organization of the world. The Koran absolutely prohibits 
the slightest indulgence in alcoholic liquors. Public confession of the 
faith by a Mohammedan is in pleasing contrast to the half-hearted 
admissions made by many Christians. On the other hand, Moham- 
medanism's denial of the incarnation excludes any idea of atonement, 
while all sense of God's fatherly love is obliterated in the over-emphasis 
upon His sovereign will. This has developed a doctrine of predestina- 
tion which is paralyzing to human effort. Mohammed's injunctions 
concerning marriage have degraded woman, while Christianity has 
ever sought her elevation. The contest for universal supremacy is 
being waged between Christianity and Mohammedanism as between no 
other religions. The conflict may be long, but the end is certain. The 
insufficiencies of the Moslem faith are enough to condemn the religion 
in toto among enlightened people, and the revolutionary nature of 
modern learning will surely open the doors for the entrance of Chris- 
tianity. When to these considerations, however, we add that of the 
close approach which Mohammedanism makes at several points to 
Christianity, notably in the Koran's admission regarding the gospels 
and the person of Christ, it is impossible to doubt that the triumph 
must ultimately come to Him who, by a great price, has purchased a 
world-redemption. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(7) Mohammed and his religion. Muir: Mahomet and Islam. (2) 
Borrowed elements of Mohammedanism. Zwemer: Islam, chart op- 
posite p. 86. (3) The Kaaba and its black stone. Ibid, pp. Ill, 112. 



Lcss °Nine The Prophet of Allah 59 

(4) Wrongs of Mohammedan womanhood. Sommer (editor) : Our 
Moslem Sisters. (5) Mohammedan fields of to-day. Several articles 
and editorials in Missionary Review of the World, October, 1909. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What are the chief divisions within modern Judaism? 2. What 
doctrines do all Jews accept ? 3. Mention some of the chief weaknesses 
of Orthodox Judaism; of Reformed Judaism. 4. What needs of 
modern Judaism are met and overcome in Christianity? 5. What 
religion do we study to-day? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is the object of the lesson? (Note 1.) 



2. What is the relation of Mohammedanism to Judaism? (Note 2.) 



3. At what points is Mohammedanism related to Christianity 



4. Tell what you can of Mohammed's youth. (Note 3.) 



5. Sketch the religious career of Mohammed. 



6. What books constitute the Scriptures of Mohammedanism? 
(Note 4.) 



7. How was the Koran text thought to be preserved 



60 The Conquering Christ Senior 

8. What is the fundamental declaration of the Mohammedan faith? 

9. State and explain the seven tenets of Mohammedanism. 

10. What are the five practical duties of every Mohammedan ? 



11. What can you say, in detail, of the early expansion of Moham- 
medanism? What, of its present status? (Note 5.) 



12. In what respects would you commend Mohammedanism ? For 
what features would you condemn it? (Notes 5, 6.) 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Would you regard Mohammedanism as a heretical Christian sect? 
Why? 2. Was Mohammed primarily a statesman, an enthusiast, a 
prophet, or an impostor? 3. Which is the worse as a religious con- 
ception, the Taoist hell or the Mohammedan heaven? Why? 4. 
What importance do you attach to the missionary enterprise of Moham- 
medanism? 5. How does the missionary motive of Christianity com- 
pare with that of Mohammedanism? 6. What does the revival of 
Mohammedanism mean to Christianity? 

Mission Gem. " I am convinced that Jesus Christ will conquer Mo- 
hammed. There is no doubt about it. . . . His kingdom fills heaven 
now, and will soon fill the earth." — A Moslem Professor in the Bokhara 
High School. 

Personal Thought. Though Mohammedanism is woefully incapable 
of creating the best life in its adherents, the followers of the Arabian 
prophet manifest a striking loyalty to their faith. Their belief and 
their practice are in closest conformity. Am I satisfied to be less loyal 
to my Redeemer than the Moslem is to his prophet? Only by testi- 
mony and prayer and charity and missionary zeal shall I prove my 
profession. 



LesS Te n A Degenerate Christianity 61 

Lesson 10. A DEGENERATE CHRISTIANITY. Catholicism 
in Latin America. 

Scripture Reading: The Blind Guides. Mt. 15:3-20. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the leading characteristics 
of South American Catholicism, the respects in which it presents a 
degenerate type of Christianity, and the need of a higher type as the 
only remedy for existing evils. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Catholicism of South America. The Roman Catholi- 
cism which was carried into South America was a product of the Dark 
Ages, bigoted, unrelenting, inquisitorial, accustomed to intrigue and 
Machiavellian statecraft, and bitterly hostile to the new knowledge 
which swept over Europe in the trail of the Renaissance. From such a 
Catholicism little good could be expected. The Roman church of the 
southern continent has scarcely improved with the passing years. 
To-day it is the object of scorn among the greater number of South 
Americans, and of most serious rebuke among the higher clergy of its 
own faith. It has been said that it were better for South America 
had it never heard of Jesus Christ than to have received the Romanist 
presentation of Him. The following features, which show the wide 
divergence of priest and church from spiritual rectitude, mark the 
Catholicism with which we have to deal as a degenerate form of Chris- 
tianity. 

(i) The closed Bible. Among the Catholics of South America the 
Bible is an unknown book, except as Protestant colporteurs have sold 
copies of the New Testament and portions of Scripture in Catholic 
communities. The priests generally are grossly ignorant of its con- 
tents, and never think of teaching its precepts to the people. So little 
does the average priest know of the Scriptures that he is commonly 
worsted in religious argument with Protestant colporteurs. Moreover, 
when the " false book," as he calls it, is circulated in his town he 
advises all the people not to touch it. The Protestant pastor at 
Chilian, Chili, says: " Neither in the open air nor alongside the Bible 
counter have I been able to find a single person who has ever read the 
Bible, or even the New Testament." 

(2) The unhallowed Sabbath. Sunday is not only the day of worship 
but also the great day of pleasure in South America. All sorts of gala 
functions are set for Sunday. Worship in the morning at the church 
may be followed by attendance at a bull fight in the afternoon, without 
any opposition on the part of the church, or feeling of inconsistency. 



The Conquering Christ 



Senior 
Grade 



(j) Practical idolatry. In the churches images find a large place, 
and are generally worshiped as the idols of India are by the devout 
Hindus. Many Catholics have their particular saints or patrons. A 
driver of a cart transported a missionary to the edge of a town and there 
left him, with all his belongings, explaining that his " patron would be 
angry " if he went any further. This practical deification of the saints 
is widespread. 

(4) The farce of a celibate priesthood. It is scarcely open to question 
that the worst evil of South American Catholicism is the moral cor- 
ruption of those to whom is entrusted the spiritual leadership of the 
people. Priests make little effort to hide their transgressions of the 
vows of chastity; priests' sons and priests' daughters are common. 

(5) A corrupt confessional. Such a 
priesthood as has just been described is 
incapable of conducting a pure confes- 
sional. The evil purposes served by 
this feature of Catholicism are notorious. 
Not infrequently sincere minded Catholic 
men, out of regard for the purity of 
their wives and daughters, are forced 
to forbid them to attend the confes- 
sional. 

(6) Gross superstitions. The people 
of South America are peculiarly sus- 
ceptible to superstitions. As the ma- 
jority of the priests are themselves 
ignorant and degraded, they do not 
hesitate to cultivate superstitious 
beliefs among the people, and to use 
them for their own enrichment in ways 
that seem almost incredibly gross; such, 
for example, as raffling souls out of 
purgatory, the purchaser of the win- 
ning ticket being allowed to name the 
person to be released. 

Note 3. The Chilian Priesthood and Pope Leo XIII. No more scath- 
ing rebuke has ever been administered to the South American priest- 
hood than that contained in the reported letter of Pope Leo XIII 
addressed to the clergy of Chili in 1897. " In every diocese," he said, 
" ecclesiastics break all bounds and deliver themselves up to manifold 
forms of sensuality, and no voice is lifted up imperiously to summon 




Courtesy of Foreign Christian Miss. Soc. 

Instruments of Torture, 

Used by Catholic enthusiasts in seasons 
of penance. When secured by a Phil ippine 
missionary just after use, they were drip- 
ping with blood. 



L€SS0 rp en A Degenerate Christianity 63 

pastors to their duties. The clerical press casts aside all sense of 
decency and loyalty in its attacks on those who differ, and lacks con- 
trolling authority to bring it to its proper use. There is assassination 
and calumny, the civil laws are defied, bread is denied the enemies of 
the church, and there is no one to interpose. ... It is sad to reflect 
that prelates, priests and other clergy are never found doing service 
among the poor; they are never in the hospital or lazar house; never in 
the orphan asylum or hospice, in the dwellings of the afflicted or dis- 
tressed, or engaged in works of beneficence, aiding primary instruction, 
or found in refuges or prisons. ... As a rule they are ever absent 
where human misery exists, unless paid as chaplains, or a fee is given. 
On the other hand, you (the clergy) are always to be found in the houses 
of the rich, or wherever gluttony may be indulged in, wherever the 
choicest wines may be freely obtained." 

Note 4. The Relation of Church to State and its Effects. While, the 
difference in conditions in the various South American countries makes 
it impossible adequately to study the continent as a whole, and while 
it is a fact that the great majority of the inhabitants are pagan aborig- 
ines and irreligious persons, it nevertheless remains true that Romanism 
has for centuries dominated the larger area of the country, and is to- 
day, by virtue of its intimate relations with government, as well as by 
its lordship over the people, far the most potent force operating 
throughout the continent. This power of the church affects particu- 
larly two phases of the public welfare, the government itself and public 
education. The relation to government tends to corruption, favoritism 
and injustice. The word of the resident priest is frequently stronger 
than that of the mayor or resident magistrate. In one instance, where 
Presbyterian workers were driven from the town, and their books 
burned, no redress was obtainable. It was later learned that the 
priest who had caused the hostility was himself mayor of the town. 

The Roman church in South America practically controls the entire 
system, such as there is, of public education. The effect of their control 
is evident in the general hostility toward any progressive learning, in 
the turning of public funds to the support of parochial schools, and 
in the paucity of schools for even the most rudimentary education. In 
the year 1908, when the financial situation in the state of Rio de 
Janeiro was admittedly critical, the public school system was one of 
the first institutions to suffer, the number of schools was reduced from 
1,200 to 300, and the teachers' salaries were cut in half. At the same 
time the native Protestant churches increased the salaries of their 
pastors. The present educational situation is fairly stated by Dr. 



64 The Conquering Christ Sen Grade 

Dennis when he says : " The impulse given to the cause of education in 
general throughout South America by Protestant missions has been 
invaluable as offsetting the depressing policy of the Roman Catholic 
Church in hampering intellectual progress." 

Note 5. Forms of Hostility to Protestant Christianity. This note 
on the lesson would gladly be omitted did a fair presentation of the 
South American religious situation permit. But the degree to which 
the Roman church carries its intolerance necessitates that at least 
some words be said, as well to illustrate the actual conditions of the 
South American field as to justify the attitude of Evangelical Christians 
in carrying on mission work within Catholic communities. That the 
situation may be fairly stated, the incidents cited herewith have been 
taken from the latest reports (1908) of but two out of the more than 
thirty societies carrying on mission work in South America. At Ran- 
cagua, Chili, attendants at Protestant services have been persecuted, 
thrown out of employment, and turned out of their homes. At Con- 
cepcion, Chili, persecution, attempts at violence, and threatenings from 
the Roman Catholic Superior are attendant circumstances of the work. 
The Presbyterian mission was attacked by a mob led by a Dominican 
friar, " who stationed himself at the door and forbade entrance under 
penalty of excommunication and anathema. The two helpers were 
dragged out into the street, thrown to the ground, trampled upon, 
cuffed and flogged." A letter from the Archbishop has been circulated 
in Bogota, Colombia, warning the people not to attend the Protestant 
services or to patronize the schools. From Villa Mercedes, Argentina, 
comes the report that ' ' during the past three years the Roman Catholic 
cure and his assistants have been unceasing in their bitter attacks. 
All the arts of Jesuitical intrigue have been made use of. The priests 
have done their best to frighten the mothers, to intimidate the fathers, 
and to entice young people from us." At Quito, Ecuador, the Meth- 
odists find great difficulty in renting any place in which to hold services, 
as the property holders would stand in imminent peril of excommuni- 
cation should they rent their premises for such unholy purposes. 
" They rent their houses for liquor saloons, for gambling purposes, and 
for immoral ends, but they could never be persuaded to rent them for 
the holding of Protestant services." Such instances as these could be 
multiplied in number, but the few here cited are sufficient to sustain 
the assertion that Protestant mission work in South America en- 
counters the active hostility of the Roman Church. 

Note 6. Protestantism vs. South American Catholicism. Catholi- 
cism is failing at every point to meet the needs of South America. In- 



Less °Ten -^ Degenerate Christianity 65 

deed, in many instances the church itself is creating the needs. A 
spirit of liberal agnosticism exists as a direct result of the narrowness 
and bigotry of the church. The women outnumber the men at re- 
ligious services fifty to one, in some cases more than a hundred to one. 
In striking contrast to this is the fact that among Protestant missions, 
men almost invariably outnumber the women. Protestantism makes 
public education one of the leading features of its work ; the people are 
hungry for knowledge, and are eager to learn; books and portions of 
the Scriptures do not have to be given away, but are gladly purchased ; 
the press is used as a valuable aid in the spread of a true religious 
knowledge, and Bibles are placed on the reading tables of public 
libraries. Mariolatry and saint worship, superstition and fear of the 
priesthood, are powerful forces against which Protestantism is con- 
tending, but there are not wanting abundant indications that with the 
new learning which is finding its way into South America, and with 
the commercial and national awakening that is coming to many of 
the countries, Protestant Christianity will find its rightful place in the 
religious life of the continent. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(7) Actual conditions in South America. Tucker: The Bible in 
Brazil. (2) The Gospel in South America. Clark: The Gospel in 
Latin Lands, chs. 5, 6. (3) Social and political life in the southern 
continent. Neely: South America, ch. 4. (4) Roman Catholicism as 
a subject for missionary endeavor. Religions of Mission Fields, ch. 10. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the relation of Mohammedanism to Judaism? to Chris- 
tianity? 2. What is the fundamental belief of Mohammedanism? 3. 
State the leading doctrines of this system. 4. What are the principal 
effects of Mohammedanism upon social conditions? 5. Mention some 
of its worthy features. 6. Justify Christian missions to Mohammedan 
lands. 7. What is the subject of to-day's lesson ? its object ? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What was the nature of the Catholicism first imported into South 
America? (Note 2.) 



2. Characterize the present Catholicism of South America. 



66 The Conquering Christ 



Grade 



3. In it, what place is given to the Bible? the Sabbath? practical 
idolatry? 



4. What can you say of its confessional? employment of super- 
stition ? 



5. To what extent are the gross immoralities of the priesthood 
recognized by Catholics themselves? (Notes 2. 3.) 



6. What is the numerical strength of the Catholic church in South 
America? (Note 4.) 



7. Compare this with its actual strength in government circles. 



8. What is the attitude of the Catholic church toward education in 
South America? 



9. How is Protestant mission work met by the Catholic clergy? Il- 
lustrate. (Note 5.) 



10. What has Catholicism done for South America? (Note 6.) 



11. What is Protestantism endeavoring to accomplish? 



12. What are some of the difficulties of this work? What is the 
outlook ? 



Les ii n en Minor Religions of Mission Lands 67 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1 . Compare the type of religion imported into South America by the 
Spanish and Portuguese with that imported into North America by the 
Pilgrims and Puritans. How is the present difference in the status of 
the two continents related to the difference between the two types of 
imported religion? 2. Should a religion be influenced by its environ- 
ment, and if so, to what extent? 3. In view of the fact that so large 
a portion of South America is pagan, what justification is there for 
introducing Protestant mission work in Catholic communities? 4. 
What is the real mission of Protestantism in South America? 

Mission Gem. " Missionary work in Valparaiso has been such a joy 
that one has scarcely noted length of days or weariness of body. To 
have one's prayers answered day by day, to see preaching halls filled 
with eager listeners night after night, to see souls saved all through the 
year — this has been our privilege." — Florence E. Smith. 

Personal Thought. Religion bears its legitimate fruit no less in the 
life of an individual than in the life of a nation. A pure Christian faith 
will modify practically every capacity for service. I cannot be my 
best apart from Christ; with Him, I shall be vastly more than ever I 
could possibly be alone. 



Lesson 11. MINOR RELIGIONS OF MISSION LANDS. 
Forces which Cannot be Neglected. 

Scripture Reading: Those from the East and the West. Mt. 8:5-11. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To sketch in brief the outstand- 
ing characteristics of African fetichism, Korean shamanism, South 
American paganism, and the Jainism and Parsism of India, and to 
show in what respects Christianity is superior to each of these beliefs. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

In the preceding lessons attention has been centered upon the great organized re- 
ligions of the world. But several mission fields have been entirely passed by because 
the religious customs of the people have not yet been crystallized into a system ; in 
other instances lesser religious bodies, as the Jains and Parsis, were not mentioned 
because their numbers were so small as not to justify separate treatment. The more 
important religious customs and systems thus omitted in the foregoing lessons will 
be briefly considered here. 

Note 2. The Fetichism of Africa. The great religious cult which 
holds supreme sway over the majority of Africa's millions is fetich- 
ism. By this term we mean the belief that a material object pos- 
sesses the power of determining the issues of human affairs. This 
object is called a fetich. It may be a stick, a stone, a tooth, a tree 
— indeed, anything whatsoever. The fetich is not an idol, for it is 



68 The Conquering Christ Sm Grade 

not the material representation of a god. It is doubtful if it is even 
thought of as possessing any power of volition. Probably it is most 
commonly regarded as a charm of real potency, " the abode of an 
impersonal power which we would class as a spirit." To it, however, 
the savage will talk, he will caress it, he will even punish and discard 
■it at his pleasure. The ignorant savage does not readily distinguish 
between different orders of religious objects and beings. To him 
the air is full of malevolent spirits seeking to do him bodily injury. 
Some of them, he thinks, belong to departed friends and relatives 
who are trying to snatch him off to the spirit world. Every mis- 
fortune of life is believed to be the direct working of some cruel or 
malicious power, and to preserve himself from the evil pursuit of 
these demons is his chief religious care. The fetich and the charm 
are his refuge. They are carried about as protectors from bodily 
harm, and in the hut are given standing room on the god-shelf. 
Were it not for belief in these, his fear of unseen powers would doubt- 
less drive him mad. It cannot be denied, therefore, that this belief 
has a certain value. A charm placed over a doorway, or fastened 
to the ceiling of the house, is more efficacious in Africa as a protec- 
tion against theft than a dozen slaves would be, for slaves might 
steal, but who would dare to steal what was protected by the unseen 
powers, whose vengeance, for all one knows, is swift and terrible? 

Note 3. The Practice of Shamanism. Belief in a populous spirit 
world, usually accompanied by fetichism, is widespread among the 
lower races. One phase of this belief has just been referred to as 
prevailing in Africa. Another phase of the belief, known as shaman- 
ism, regards the spirits as limited in their activities to certain local- 
ities, or objects, or even to physical qualities and passions, and as 
sometimes good and sometimes evil, but always as liable to be finicky 
and mischievous. A given mountain, a certain river, an old or 
peculiar tree, even hunger and anger, may be regarded as represen- 
tative of a spirit. 

Shamanism is believed in and practiced by the North American 
Esquimaux and the Siberian tribes. From the latter people the 
belief probably found its way into Korea, where to-day it prevails 
as probably the most fantastic religion of the world. A bit of bright 
paper or a scrap of colored cloth is supposed to be particularly at- 
tractive and pleasing to the spirits. Hence these odd bits of paper 
and cloth are seen everywhere, hanging on bushes and trees, nailed 
to walls and rafters of houses, pasted above the fireplaces, and at- 
tached to doors. 



Lesson ^ Minor Religions of Mission Lands 69 

A conspicuous feature of Korean shamanism is the omnipresent 
shaman, or priest. The men and women belonging to this order are 
supposed to possess peculiar supernatural power. They profess to 
foretell the future, to bring good and bad luck, and to have great 
influence with the spirits. The women especially are adepts in this 
spiritualistic deception, more than three thousand of them plying a 
remunerative trade in the city of Seoul, where they earn from ten 
to twenty dollars a month, or over half a million dollars per year. 
It has been estimated that shamanism costs the little country of 
Korea no less than $2,500,000 annually. In view of the blind faith 
of the people in this religion and its excessive and foolish cost, it can 
only be regarded as a form of spiritual and social bondage entailing 
a burdensome economic waste. 

Note 4. The Paganism of South America. South American pagan- 
ism exhibits a variety of forms, so different that a description of the 
beliefs and practices in one section can scarcely apply to those in 
another. Catholicism, which has established itself along the coast, 
has only to a limited extent penetrated into the interior. The 
highly organized religions which the Spaniards found when they in- 
vaded the continent have largely disappeared. The ancient temples 
have been stripped of their treasures, but the crumbling ruins still 
tell of their former magnificence. The tribes in the interior had 
Vague notions of a spirit world, their beliefs differing but little from 
African fetichism. Some, however, had conceived of a creator, of 
the soul as immortal, and of ghosts and devils as agents of misfortune. 
Human sacrifices and cannibalism were practiced. To-day, through 
foreign influence, these forms of savagery have been practically abol- 
ished, though in other respects forms of worship remain the same. 
It is estimated that, of the present population of South America, 
the descendants of the aboriginal tribes constitute over twelve per 
cent, and that over forty per cent live outside Christian influences. 

Note 5. Jainism and Parsism in India, (i) Jainism. The Jain 
holds a faith closely related both to Hinduism and to Buddhism, 
yet at certain points in strong opposition to one or the other. He 
believes that every material entity possesses its own particular spirit, 
whether a tree, a stone, a kettle, or even a drop of water, and, unlike 
the Hindu or Buddhist, that these particular spirits forever retain 
their individuality, never being " absorbed " into the world-soul. 
The Jain believes reincarnation consists in a cycle of eight re-births 
after one has started upon the right road. Salvation is release of 
the soul from the trammels of flesh. The doctrine of the sanctity 



70 The Conquering Christ Sen afad& 

of life receives its highest development in this religion. The taking 
of life, even though by accident, is conceived of as such a heinous 
sin that every possible precaution is taken to prevent the injury of 
even the minutest insects. The devout Jain not only brushes the 
path before him as he walks, lest he tread upon an ant, and strains 
the water which he drinks lest he swallow an animalcule, but even 
breathes through a piece of cloth as a further preventive against 
accidentally taking the life of any living thing. 

In asceticism the Jain sets the example for the rest of India. The 
practice is carried to great extremes and is regarded as so important 
that if the devotee is unable to hold himself to the rigors of the ascetic 
life, he is at liberty to kill himself. Like the Hindus, the Jains keep 
up caste and are divided into various sects. Of the two chief sects, 
one is clothed and admits women, the other believes in scanty at- 
tire (or none at all), and does not admit women. They number 
approximately one and a half millions. 

(2) Parsism. The Parsis constitute a small but influential sect 
in and about Bombay. Their membership at present is less than a 
hundred thousand. They are descendants of the Zoroastrians of 
Persia, who, under the rigors of Mohammedan persecution in the sev- 
enth century, emigrated to the Gujarat, India. Here they remained 
as agriculturists until the seventeenth century, when Mohammedan 
conquests in India again forced them to leave the land of their adop- 
tion and move southward to Bombay. In this city they have estab- 
lished themselves as leaders in commercial enterprise and as ministers 
to the best thought and life of the community. Industrious, thrifty, 
and of broad intellectual sympathies, they have been more noted for 
their charity and benevolence than have any other religious sect. 
The city of Bombay has been beautified and its beneficent institu- 
tions multiplied through the munificence of these open-handed mer- 
chants. All who have known them speak only words of praise in 
their behalf. 

In the purity of their religious ideals they are said to appr®aoh 
Christianity and Judaism more closely than do any other people of 
mission lands. They believe in one god, Ormuzd (or Ahura Muzda), 
the Supreme Ruler of the universe, to whom they attach no unworthy 
characteristic. Him they adore and worship. Through two inferior 
powers, the spirit of creation and the spirit of destruction, he works 
all the changes of the universe. Earth, water and fire they regard 
as sacred elements. Fire, as the most fitting symbol of deity, is kept 
constantly burning in every Parsi temple, and before it religious rites 
are performed. For this use of fire, the Zoroastrians have long been 



Lesson 
Eleven 



Minor Religions of Mission Lands 



71 




Parsi Tower of Silence. 
These towers are preferably built upon a liilltop and are usually in 
the center of a beautiful park. 



known as fire-worshipers, but the Parsis resent the appellation, deny- 
ing that the fire is anything more than an aid to the contemplation of 
divine things. The 
most characteristic 
rite of the Parsis is 
their disposition of 
the dead. After due 
ceremonies, the 
corpse is solemnly 
borne to the " tower 
of silence," a massive 
circular structure con- 
taining a circular plat- 
form sloping toward 
a central well. The 
body is placed on 
the platform, stripped 
of clothing, and 
the gate of the tower is closed. Immediately the waiting vultures 
swoop down to their feast and in an incredibly short time nothing is 
left but the bones, white and clean. This ceremony is always per- 
formed in the daytime, and when the bones have been bleached by 
the action of the sun they are swept into the central well, where they 
gradually weather away and are returned to the soil. This method of 
disposing of the dead is resorted to as being the cleanest and most 
sanitary method available. To bury the body would defile the sacred 
earth, to cast it into the sea would defile the water, and to burn it 
would defile the sacred fire. 

Note 6. These Minor Religions and Christianity. In view of the 
preceding studies it is hardly, necessary to point out the needs which 
are created by the lower forms of paganism discussed in Notes 2-4 
above. These religions show at a glance their insufficiency for the 
spiritual needs of man, and call for no comparison with Christianity. 
Jainism ranks with Hinduism and Buddhism as far as inferiority to 
Christianity is concerned, and reference to the final paragraphs of 
Lessons 2 and 4 will suggest the chief points of contrast between the 
Christian faith and Jainism. Parsism is in a distinctly different class 
from the foregoing and stands practically side by side with Judaism 
as to its lack of Christian ideas and ideals. But all the minor religions 
alike harbor the idea of salvation by works, based on a false conception 
of sin, and make no provision for redemption. They lack a sympa- 



72 The Conquering Christ Sen G°ade 

thetic and efficient mediator between sinful men and a just Gcd. 
There is no teaching concerning " our Father in heaven," the God 
of infinite love, nor of the spiritual peace in the world to come. They 
clothe the present with fear, and enwrap the final issues in despair 
and darkness; Christianity inspires the living with courage, and sus- 
tains the dying with divine promises of a heavenly home. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(z) The religion of the African. Religions of Mission Fields, ch. 1. 
{2) The pagans of South America. Brown : Latin America, Lect. I. 
(j) The Sikhs, a religious and military brotherhood of India. Bliss : 
Encyclopaedia of Missions, pp. 679, 680. The Jains. Hopkins: Relig- 
ions of India, pp. 280-297. (5) Sepulture of the dead among Parsis. 
Karaka: History of the Parsis, pp. 192-213. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What religions have we studied in our three preceding lessons? 
2. How are these related one to another? 3. What religious condi- 
tions prevail in Catholic sections of South America? 4. In what 
particular respects is South American Catholicism open to criticism? 
5. Are the Protestant missionary forces justified in their prosecution 
of work in these Catholic communities? 6. What is the subject of 
to-day's study? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is meant by the term " fetichism "? (Note 2.) 



2. How does the practice of fetichism affect the African? 



3. State the difference between the belief of the African and that 
of the Korean. (Note 3.) 



4. Tell what you can of the priestly class in shamanism. 



£. What economic disadvantage attends this cult? 



Le E°ieven Minor Religions of Mission Lands 73 

6. What portions of South America still remain pagan? (Note 4.) 



7. How does the religion of the South American pagans compare 
with that of the Africans ? with that of the Koreans ? 



8. At what points does the Jain differ in his belief from the Hindu ? 
from the Buddhist? (Note 5.) 



9. By what means does the devout Jain seek to avoid killing any 
living thing ? 



10. Who are the Parsis? 



11. What is their intellectual and commercial standing! 



12. What are their leading doctrines? What is their most charac- 
teristic rite ? 



13. What criticism may Christianity pass upon all of these minor 
religions? (Note 6.) 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Is the African better off with his crude belief than he would be 
with no religion at all? Why? 2. Which, would you say, offered the 
more hopeful field for missionary endeavor, the Roman Catholics or 
the pagan tribes of South America ? Give your reasons. 3. If Chris- 
tianity is the true religion, how do you account for the great difficulty 
of winning converts from among the most enlightened classes of India? 



74 The Conquering Christ SeU Grad* 

4. To what extent does intelligent intellectual conviction prompt 
the religious life of the African? of the South American pagan? of 
the Jain ? of the Parsi ? 

Mission Gem. " The Gospel messenger is determining the fate of 
nations." 

Personal Thought. While three out of the five great continents 
are submerged in moral and spiritual darkness, what must be my per- 
sonal relation to the forces working for their uplift and regeneration? 
Am I conscious of any divine influence impelling me to participate 
in the spread of the knowledge of Christ ? 



Lesson. 12. THE GOSPEL OF A NEW ERA. Present 
World Status of Christianity. 

Scripture Reading: The Light of the World. Jo. 8:12-20; 1:1-17. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show how Christianity entered 
a corrupt world, bringing a new and welcome message, how it spreads 
itself by a strong missionary propaganda, and how it is to-day creating 
a new society and a civilization unique in the history of the world. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The World into which the Gospel Came. The Roman world 
in the time of Christ, and that means practically the entire civilized 
world of that day, was characterized by irreligion and moral corrup- 
tion. The temples, which had once been thronged with devotees of 
the state gods, were largely deserted, and it was even becoming diffi- 
cult to obtain priests and priestesses for the temple services. The sub- 
ject of religion was eschewed, or treated with contempt and sneers. 
Writers of comedy, alive to popular feeling, made religion one of their 
favorite themes for pointed sarcasm and witty attack. 

The spirit of irreligion begat universal corruption of morals, both 
public and private. The crowds at Corinth and Athens, and especially 
at Rome, sought the joy of life in games, theatres, and bloody con- 
tests in the great arenas. The chief concern of the masses was pleasure 
and excitement. The leaders of the state were for the most part 
corrupt. Even Seneca, so often regarded as the noblest philosopher 
of Rome, was not free from duplicity and greed for gold. He wrote 
his essay extolling poverty while surrounded by every luxury. Dur- 
ing a few years of political power he amassed a fortune of over fifteen 
million dollars. Though he taught a noble code of morality, he is 
said to have lived a life wholly inconsistent with his teaching. This 



Le Twelve The Gospel of a New Era 75 

corruption in public life culminated in the imperial court at Rome, 
where Nero's murder of his brother, his wife and his mother was a 
natural result of the horrible state into which public morals had fallen. 
As public morality broke down, so also private morality ceased to be 
practised. The home and the family, the strongest foundations of 
the state, lost their importance among the institutions of society. 
Marriage became a farce, and divorce was almost as common as mar- 
riage. Along with this private immorality there arose among the 
slave-owning class a spirit of cruelty and irresponsibility which fre- 
quently vented itself in atrocious methods of slave punishment. A 
master might torture or kill his slave at his pleasure. 

"On that hard heathen world, disgust 
And secret loathing fell ; 
Deep weariness and sated lust 
Made human life a hell." 

But there was one redeeming element in all this. The riotous love 
of pleasure meant that men were restless, seeking a. satisfaction which 
they could not find. Judaism cherished a Messianic hope, and Virgil 
prophesied the approach of a golden age. The more thoughtful men 
among those who had lost faith in the gods of Rome were espousing 
a faith in a vague, supreme world-spirit, and by this approach to mono- 
theism were preparing the way for the full revelation to come. Not- 
withstanding the general depravity of society a few at least among the 
middle classes held firmly to the early ideals of home and family. It 
was into such a society — a society of boundless corruption and but 
little moral leaven — that Christianity came. 

Note 3. The Message which the Gospel Brought. When Chris- 
tianity entered the Roman world, it brought a new message of purity, 
of hope, of uplift. Jesus, assuming the consciousness of sin on the 
part of men, proclaimed neither rites nor sacrifices as the way of par- 
don, but faithful adherence to Himself. This was a portion of Jesus' 
greater teaching concerning the coming kingdom. The new golden 
era for which men hoped, Christ preached as the kingdom of heaven, 
even then at hand. Furthermore, in conjunction with His preaching 
of repentance and the kingdom, Christ presented a new conception of 
God. Judaism had emphasized the holy character of Jehovah, but 
Jesus revealed the divine Fatherhood, and affirmed the universal son- 
ship of men. This message concerning a loving Father in heaven, of 
restoration to fellowship with Him through repentance and faith, and 
of the ultimate and universal supremacy of goodness and truth were 
the revolutionary ideas which Jesus projected into a world vainly 
groping after God. 



76 



The Conquering Christ 



Senior 
Grade 



$1P;:SI 



The subject of religion, also, under the treatment of Jesus, came to 
have a greater meaning than ever before. The twofold law comprised 
the whole of Jesus' conception of the religious life. Duty and love 
toward God, and duty and love toward man comprised the theory and 
the practice of Jesus' idea of religion. 

Jesus not only held out a new doctrine of pardon, of God and the 
religious life, but taught also a new doctrine of the future. Before 
His advent the future life was at best dark, uncertain, and filled with 
gloomy forebodings. No religion had taught men how to die without 
fear. Christ was the first religious teacher to place death and the 
future world in proper relation to life and the present. The immortal 
fourteenth chapter of John remains unmatched in any religious litera- 
ture of the world as a revelation of the future. 

Note 4. The Method by which the Gospel is Spreading. Jesus be- 
gan the propagation of His message and the inauguration of a new 

era at the very outset of His min- 
istry by instituting a series of mis- 
sionary meetings (see opening chap- 
ters of Mark's gospel). A little 
later He began training a band of 
disciples to do His evangelistic 
work, and shortly thereafter sent 
about seventy of His followers to 
evangelize the outlying towns that He 
had failed to reach. When He was 
about to leave His disciples, He 
definitely commissioned them to 
preach the good news of the king- 
dom of God to all men. The uni- 
versality of the Gospel had been a 
constant note in Jesus' teaching, 
and He did not fail to emphasize 
this feature in His enunciation of 
the Great Commission. 

Christianity is to-day so organized 
as to carry out this divine intention. 
Mission boards of various denominations make the winning of the 
world their supreme task. There is no other work of the modern 
church which looms so large. Men and women, the best our churches 
can offer, are sent to the four quarters of the earth and to almost every 
people in the world, that men and women may hear the Gospel mes- 
sage and be saved. 




"Come unto me, . . . and I will 
give you rest." 



Le Tweive The Gospel of a New Era 77 

The spreading of the message, however, is not a matter of mere 
mechanical organization. Unless there is life and warmth and in- 
terest in the church, men, women and funds for the progress of Chris- 
tianity will not be forthcoming. This zealous interest in the church, 
and especially in its larger enterprises cannot be maintained apart 
from prayer. It has been said that every great revival, whether at 
home or abroad, has been directly traceable to prayer, and the testi- 
mony of missionaries is uniformly to the effect that prayer is closely 
related to their success. The Master Himself said, " And when ye 
pray, say . . . thy kingdom come " (comp. also Lu. 10:2). 

Note 5. The New World which the Gospel is Creating. Chris- 
tianity is literally creating a new world. Its spiritual teachings are 
everywhere lifting human aspiration and endeavor to higher levels. 
Whereas, under heathenism life was looked upon as cheap, under 
Christianity it is seen to possess an inestimable value. Spiritual 
forces, capable of affecting every activity of life, have been released 
and are making themselves evident in a renewed social order. Civ- 
ilization is under vast indebtedness to Christianity. Hospitals, 
almshouses and charitable institutions abound wherever Christianity 
becomes a dominant factor. Business of every nature, trade, com- 
merce, and banking, all have been largely promoted through goodwill 
and peace. On the foreign fields native Christians are accorded by 
merchants a degree of credit not permitted to other traders. 

And while Christianity is thus permeating every department of 
modern civilization, it is just as surely creating new nations out of 
long stagnant races. The new Japan is a direct product of Chris- 
tianity. The revolutionary situation in Turkey and in Persia is di- 
rectly traceable to the spirit of modern learning and advancement 
which are bound to arise wherever Christian missionaries establish 
schools and preach the Gospel of Jesus. China is showing marvelous 
signs of a new life, and one more generation will scarcely pass before 
a new China will arise in amazing strength before the world. The 
leaders in this great movement, as in the case of Japan, Turkey, and 
Persia, are the Christian missionaries. In a very real sense the Gospel 
of Christ is redeeming the old world that was, and is fashioning the 
world that is to be. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Moral conditions within the Roman empire at the beginning of 
the modern era. Uhlhorn: Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism, 
chs. 1, 2. (2) The historical influences of Christianity. Storrs: The 
Divine Origin of Christianity. See its Table of Contents, (j) The 



78 The Conquering Christ Sen Gmde 

place of Jesus Christ in the modern world. Morgan: The Christ of 
To-day. {4) The eternal sufficiency of Christ. Ross: The Univer- 
sality of Jesus. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What minor religions of mission fields have we studied? 2. Char- 
acterize fetichism. 3. Describe the Korean religion. 4. What is 
the strength of paganism in South America? 5. Compare Jainism 
with Hinduism and Buddhism. 6. Give your estimate of Parsism. 
7. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What was the character of the world into which Christianity 
entered? (Note 2.) 



2. What is the tendency of human nature when left to itself to work 
out its own salvation? 



3. How did the advent of Christ affect human society i 



4. What relation can you trace between the decay of faith in the 
Roman gods and the deterioration of Roman morals ? 



5. What was Christ's teaching concerning pardon? (Note 3.) 



6. What revolutionary ideas in the realm of religion did Jesus in- 
troduce ? 



7. How did Christ modify earlier ideas of the future life? 



Le Twlive The Gos P el °f a New Era 79 

8. By what method is Christianity to spread over the world? (Note 
4.) 



9. What feature of Christianity makes it supremely a missionary 
religion ? 



10. How can every Christian help extend the kingdom of Christ i 



11. To what extent is modern civilization indebted to Christianity ? 
(Note 5.) 



12. How is Christianity affecting Japan, Turkey, Persia, and China i 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Why have all non-Christian religions failed to build up a clean 
and progressive society? 2. What is there about Christianity which 
gives it a unique vitality and power? 3. What would be your first 
recommendation to the Christian church as a means of extending its 
faith? 4. What is the proper relation of Christianity to social and 
civic movements? to education? 5. What is the most . significant 
effect which Christianity has had upon human life ? 

Mission Gem. " In the day when the vigor of the West and the 
insight of the East shall be joined by a true union of hearts for the in- 
terpretation and practice of the faith of Jesus Christ, then, and not 
till then, shall the Unspeakable Gift of God be understood, appre- 
ciated, and expressed on earth." — Charles Cuthbert Hall. 

Personal Thought. In view of the record of Christianity, and the 
blessings which it has brought and is bringing to men, and of the per- 
sonal relationship which I bear to Christ, ought I not to entertain a 
much greater faith than I do in the ultimate triumph of the kingdom 
of righteousness? Grant, Lord, that I may fully believe that 

" Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
Doth his successive journeys run, 
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more." 



80 The Conquering Christ Sen Grade 

Lesson 13. RELIGIOUS VALUES AND FORCES. Review 
of the Comparative Study of Religions. 

Scripture Reading: The Reign of Jehovah's Anointed. Ps. 2. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To sum up the previous studies 
and from such a summary to gather the meaning of religion in the 
development of the race; to discuss the religious values of certain 
rites and ceremonies; and to point out the grounds of adjudging 
Christianity to be the final religion. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Religion in the Development of the Race. From the lit- 
erature of the world it is evident that religion has played an important 
part in the life of every nation. In many instances, as among the 
Brahmans of India, the priesthood has exercised more power than 
any other class. They have dictated the duties of the people, and 
demanded consultation in respect to all important transactions, 
whether public or private. Almost every event or activity has been 
co-ordinated with religion. Religious ceremonies have attended 
births, marriages, and deaths, attainment of manhood and woman- 
hood, the beginning of a journey, a building, or the day's work, and 
other matters innumerable. There has never been a time in the 
history of mankind when an individual could entirely dissociate 
himself from his religious environment. 

What has been the effect of this close association of religion with 
life? In many instances it has corrupted thought and practice, de- 
moralized society, and wrecked the state. In the name of religion, 
political intrigue and treachery have been employed, murders com- 
mitted, massacres carried into effect, long and disastrous wars fought, 
and continents laid waste. Some have boldly asserted that religion 
has done the world more harm than good. But there is another 
side to the story. After conceding all the evils to which religion has 
given rise, or which have been perpetrated in its name, there is ample 
reason to credit it with the larger part of human progress. It has 
met one of the fundamental needs of human nature. It has culti- 
vated faith, prayer, and the spirit of aspiration. It has given rise 
to great architectural feats, and has been definitely related to the 
science of astronomy, of medicine and of metallurgy. In short, re- 
ligion is the foundation of all progress in civilization. To this prog- 
ress, Christianity has been and will remain the chief contributor. 
The term " Christian civilization " is no misnomer. Because of the 
common acceptance of Christian principles by civilized men, the com- 



L< e Thirteen Religious Values and Forces 81 

mercial world assumes in large measure the validity of checks, bonds, 
notes, etc. Take out of modern civilization the religion of Chris- 
tianity alone, and the whole structure would collapse. Right ideals 
of rectitude and honesty would cease to keep the world true, charity 
would no longer minister to those in need; in thousands of hearts all 
that makes life endurable would be taken away. Society would 
lapse into barbarism. 

Note 3. Religious Practices and their Value. Many rites and 
practices are common to several religions, such as : 

(j) Pilgrimages. When a religion emphasizes the sacredness of 
locality, pilgrimages follow. The sacredness of the temple in Jerusa- 
lem brought devout worshipers to it from all over the world. Where 
a belief in the divine omnipresence prevails, pilgrimages have almost 
disappeared, though among the Roman Catholics they are still in 
vogue. Sincere pilgrims doubtless gain something in spiritual ex- 
perience, though the blessing probably comes rather through relig- 
ious aspirations than through the journey. 

(2) Worship. Worship, adoration, is common to religion, though 
manifested in different ways. In heathenism idolatry is common, 
but in the purer faiths, and notably in Christianity, the individual 
worships God immediately, without the interposition of other agen- 
cies. Worship is the heart and core of religion. It is the tacit 
admission of devotion to God, an act of deliberate self -bestowal to 
Him. 

(3) Prayer. Prayer is an expression of praise, desire, thanksgiving, 
or resignation. Prayer presupposes a prayer-hearing and prayer- 
answering God. The value of prayer to the individual depends 
largely upon his faith in its efficacy. Its intrinsic value depends upon 
the spiritual being addressed. Only God is a prayer-answering God, 
and to the Christian pre-eminently prayer is of vital importance. 

(4) Confession. Confession of wrongdoing is not a universal- 
feature of the religious life. Nevertheless it occurs frequently. 
Usually confession is made directly to the deity, but sometimes, as in 
Roman Catholicism, it is made through intermediaries. Confession 
has real religious value to the confesser. Secret knowledge of wrong- 
doing effectually destroys peace of mind; the heart is unsatisfied until 
a clean breast is made of the whole wrong affair. But the institution 
of a priestly confessional is unnecessary. While it may satisfy people 
who feel the need of an intermediary in their religious life, it is fre- 
quently attended by grave perils. 

(5) Sacrifice. Sacrifice is common to religion. It is almost always 



82 The Conquering Christ Sen ofade 

practiced to appease the anger or to retain the friendship of a deity. 
In Judaism it became definitely related to the forgiveness of sins. In 
Christianity the impulse to sacrifice finds its noblest expression in acts 
of charity and benevolence. Its value, in this respect, is beyond com- 
putation, but in its cruder forms it does little more than assist in keep- 
ing alive a sense of accountability to supernatural powers. 

(6) Baptism. Ablution, washing, sprinkling, pouring, or some 
ceremonial use of water is found in almost all religions. Its general 
significance is purification. Jesus adopted such a rite, and made it a 
declaration of allegiance to Himself. 

(f) Feasts. Feasts have formed a conspicuous feature of the 
religious life. In heathen religions they are usually held in honor of 
some nature deity. They are frequently accompanied by games, 
revelry and carousings. The eating of the passover lamb marks the 
chief religious feast of Judaism ancient and modern. Its continuance 
in the Lord's Supper, which the Early Church observed at the close 
of a " love-feast," is not now given any distinctively festival character. 
The nearest approach to a Christian festival is the celebration of 
Christmas. As a rule, feasts have been of negative rather than of 
positive value to religion. 

(8) Sectarianism. Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Mohammedans, 
and many other religious bodies are divided into numerous sects. 
Within Hinduism every caste comprises a separate sect. Among the 
Buddhists there are thirty-nine sectarian groups in Japan alone. The 
Mohammedans are divided into two great bodies with many sub-divi- 
sions. Each of the main divisions of Christianity — Greek Catholicism, 
Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism — comprises many sects. This 
is true of the last especially, because, unlike the two former, it has 
not suppressed freedom of thought and action. Sects and denomina- 
tions have arisen largely through exaggerated emphasis on subordi- 
nate beliefs and practices. Doubtless they have been of value in the 
stimulation of religious zeal, but there is a growing feeling that they 
have largely outlived their usefulness, and that sectarian or denom- 
inational lines need to be subordinated in the presence of great Chris- 
tian issues. Unity will be promoted by a greater emphasis on the es- 
sentials held in common. This tendency is now witnessed in the Pan- 
Islam movement, and in increasing interdenominational co-operation 
among Christians. 

Note 4. The Final Religion. In the preceding study of the leading 
religions the question may have arisen in some minds, " Is there such 
a thing as The Religion, the final and ultimate faith of mankind?" 



Lc Thirteen Religious Values and Forces 83 

Christianity has been presented not as one religion among many, but 
as the religion of the world. Upon what grounds can this presentation 
be justified? Several may be mentioned, as: 

(j) Its view of God. The final religion must present God as holy, 
just and loving; all-knowing, everywhere-present, and all-powerful. 

(2) Its power to carry conviction. No religion can be the final religion 
whose message is not self -evidencing. It must carry with it a convic- 
tion that its message is true, i. e., it must awaken a response in the 
heart of the believer. To do this universally, it must be based upon 
the common instincts and experiences of mankind, must recognize 
man's free agency, his individual accountability, and his sense of 
obligation and of sin. No religion which fails in this respect can be 
the final religion. 

(3) Its effecting personal communion with God. The third and 
last criterion upon which the finality of a religion may be judged is its 
power to effect personal and immediate communion with God. To the 
Christian this communion becomes an important experience in his 
religious life. His knowledge of God as Father and of Christ as Re- 
deemer is exactly as valid as any other knowledge gained by expe- 
rience. Any religion which fails at this point fails to satisfy the deep- 
est longings of the human heart and so far falls short of finality. 

When we test by these criteria the religions of the world, Chris- 
tianity alone meets them. Christianity can never be superseded, 
since no higher revelation can be made than that which God has made 
in His Son. This does not mean, however, that Christianity as we in 
America know it, will be the Christianity of India, or China, or Japan. 
These people will have to formulate their own theologies and con- 
struct their own creeds, much as our forefathers did theirs. The 
preaching of Christ will win them to Christianity, but Christianity is 
not a mere acceptance of the XXXIX Articles, the Westminster 
Catechism, Calvin's Institutes, or the Nicene Creed. Christianity is 
a life definitely related to Christ. If the world accepts Christ as the 
center and source of its religious life there need be little concern as to 
dogmatic statements. 

Suggestions for Class Discussion. 

1. Whether the race has received more good than evil from religion. 

2. How far the average man is to-day affected by religious con- 
siderations. 

3. The extent to which Christianity has created modern civilization. 

4. What it is that gives a religious practice its value. 

5. To what extent pilgrimages minister to the spiritual life of the 
pilgrims. 



84 The Conquering Christ Set Gmde 

6. Whether there can be religion without worship and prayer. 

7. What there is in confession which makes it popular as a religious 
form. 

8. How far sectarianism has advanced the religious progress of the 
race. How far it has retarded religious progress. Its present status. 

9. Whether Christianity could relinquish its forms of sacrifice, bap- 
tism, and memorial meal, without losing its place as a unique spiritual 
power. 

10. How the finality of a religion is to be judged. 

11. Whether the criteria suggested in the lesson are sufficient. 
Whether they are true. 

12. To what extent American or English formulations of Chris- 
tianity will become accepted among Oriental peoples. 

Mission Gem. " These great non-Christian religions show us the 
people groping blindly around the great altar-stairs of God, the more 
pitifully because they do not know that they are blind." — Robert E. 
Speer. 

Personal Thought. If the study of comparative religions should 
result only in an intellectual conviction of Christianity's supremacy, 
what real value has it been to me? Shall I not make the religion of 
Christ the religion of my own life, and by a consistent loyalty to Him 
help to acquaint all men with the life that is in Christ Jesus ? 



PART II 
Modern Progress of Christianity 



Lesson 14. THE PROBLEMS OF AFRICA. The Country, 
People, Language, and Political Conditions. 

(Read " Directions for Study," in Introduction.) 
Scripture Reading: Prophecies concerning Ethiopia. Ps. 68 : 31; Is. ch. 18. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To consider the problems which 
Africa presents to the Christian church, especially such as arise out of 
the character of the land, the people, the languages, and the political 
conditions. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Physical Features of the Continent. The continent 
of Africa forms an irregular triangle eleven and a half million square 
miles in area, having its base line parallel to the equator, and its apex 
pointing southward. The equator cuts it half way between the north- 
ern and southern extremities, though two thirds of its area lie north 
of the equator. Its enormous, but for the most part unindented, 
coast-line offers only a few good harbors. The chief objects of in- 
terest among its physical features are the mountains, the rivers and 
lakes, and the products of the soil. 

(i) The mountains. South of twelve degrees north latitude, Africa 
is characterized by high plateaus and a few lofty mountain chains. 
The rest of the continent, except for the Atlas mountains of Morocco 
and Algeria, and the Tarso mountains of the eastern Sahara, is free 
from high elevations. Abyssinia, lying between the Nile and Somali- 
land, is spoken of as the Switzerland of Africa, the beauty of its rolling 
country being enhanced by mountain peaks fifteen to twenty thousand 
feet in height. The elevation of the southern half of the continent 
affects the climate to such an extent that the hottest region is found 
between the tenth and twentieth degrees north latitude, while the 
snow-clad ridge of Ruwenzori is almost on the equator. 

(2) Rivers and lakes. Due to the irregularity which marks the 
mountain formations of Africa, there is no single watershed which 
acts as a divide to the river systems of the continent. Four great 
streams drain separate sections of the African table-lands, viz., the 

85 



86 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Nile, which rises in Lake Victoria Nyanza on the equator and flows 
due north, emptying into the Mediterranean; the Congo, which, with 
its affluent streams, rises in the heart of tropical Africa and flows 
generally westward into the Atlantic; the Niger, which has its source 




In the accompanying- map the line of the 12th degree north latitude is indicated. 
This line marks approximately the boundary between the white and the black races, 
the low region and the table-land, Mohammedanism and paganism; it divides the 
continent into two practically equal areas, and indicates the region of extreme high 
temperature. 

only two hundred miles from the coast back of the highlands of Li- 
beria, but flows first northeast then southeast until, after a course of 
over two thousand miles, it empties into the Gulf of Guinea; and the 



Fourteen xhe Problems of Africa 87 

Zambesi, the largest river of southern Africa, which rises in the broad 
uplands of the central plateau and flows southward and eastward into 
the Indian Ocean. 

Africa is justly noted for a number of great lakes contained within 
its highland fastnesses. Some of these are from one hundred to four 
hundred miles in length. Victoria Nyanza is said to be the second 
or third largest body of fresh water in the world, while Lake Chad, 
on the southern border of the Sahara, without an outlet but remain- 
ing fresh, has an area of about ten thousand square miles. 

(j) Natural productions. The available mineral wealth of Africa 
is not regarded as phenomenal. Several valuable mineral deposits 
in the Atlas range of Morocco and Algeria, consisting of iron, copper, 
antimony and manganese, though known to be rich, have as yet been 
but slightly developed. In the Abyssinian region there are large 
deposits of iron ore, but, from lack of fuel, they cannot be profitably 
worked. Rare minerals occur in patches, yet no prospecting has 
shown them to be present in abundance. At Kimberley, in Cape 
Colony, the diamond mines, covering seventy square miles, are the 
richest in the world, and have an annual output valued at $22,500,000. 
Algeria is rich in marble, breccia and other ornamental stone, and is 
said to furnish the finest alabaster in the world. Apart from the 
minerals of Morocco and Algeria, the gold from the Gulf of Guinea 
coast, and the diamonds from Kimberley, the export trade of Africa 
consists chiefly of vegetable products. Tunis furnishes the finest 
olive oil and the best dates known to commerce. The Nile valley is 
the granary of the Mediterranean countries, and in recent years has fur- 
nished a cotton crop of large economic importance. Equatorial 
Africa on the east provides ivory from the interior, and on the west 
the great staple is rubber secured from the forests of the Congo. 
The soil of southern Africa is remarkably fertile, and where suitable 
water supply is obtainable, land is gradually coming under cultiva- 
tion. In the less favored regions cattle raising is carried on. Other 
products of the country are wool, mohair, wine, brandy, ostrich feathers 
and tobacco. 

Note 3. The People of Africa. The people of Africa may be di- 
vided into two main classes, or types, the white races of the north and 
the black races of the south. (See note accompanying map on p. 86.) 
The Sudan negroes and the Bantu negroes are separated by a line 
running approximately eastward from the head of the Gulf of Guinea, 
the Bantus being south of this line. The southwestern corner of 
Africa is occupied by Hottentots and Bushmen, whose derivation is 



88 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

uncertain. The white races are found in Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, 
Tripoli, Egypt, Abyssinia, and Somaliland. They have been familiar 
with arts and learning for centuries and, with the exception of the 
Abyssinians, who practise a degenerate Christianity, they are Moham- 
medans. The black races are devoted to fetichism and superstitious 
practices, and manifest no inclination toward civilization. 

Among the races thus described are many tribal subdivisions, over 
a hundred being known among the Bantus. The social conditions 
likewise differ widely in the different sections of the continent. Every 
social grade may be found between the civilization of the colonists at 
the Cape and the savagery of the interior tribes, with whom canni- 
balism is still no uncommon practice. This situation makes it im- 
possible to treat the missionary problems of Africa as though they 
were all alike in respect to the social standards of the people. 

Note 4. The Languages of the People. The languages of Africa, 
like the tribes, are numerous. In northern Africa, Arabic is in general 
use, and has been for centuries. In connection with this language 
there is also a literature of no mean proportions. But the Arabic 
speaking people constitute the minority of Africans. Among the 
negroid races a generation ago there were over six hundred languages 
or dialects, and none of these had been reduced to writing. The 
earliest missionaries who went out to Africa found that learning one 
tongue was no guarantee that they could speak intelligibly to a tribe 
only a few miles away. This large variety of dialects made it impos- 
sible for the missionary to prove useful outside of one tribe unless he 
learned more than one tongue. One of the first tasks to which the 
early missionaries gave themselves was the reduction of the principal 
dialects to writing, and the compilation of a grammar and a dictionary. 
The result has been to create an African negro literature, in some 
tongues comprising many books in addition to the entire Scriptures 
or portions thereof. The complex linguistic situation still prevails 
but, in view of the similarity of certain dialects in use among related 
tribes, it is probable that with the spread of education there will be 
some reduction in the number. 

Note 5. Political Conditions in Africa. Over ten million of the 
eleven and a half million square miles of African territory are now 
under nominal European control, and one half of the remainder con- 
sists of the eastern part of the Sahara Desert and the great lakes. 
France has the largest holdings in Africa, including Algeria and Tunis, 
on the Mediterranean, French Congo north of the Congo river, and 
a great part of the Sahara Desert, besides minor holdings on the Gulf 



Fourteen 77^ Problems of Africa 89 

of Guinea coast. Great Britain, if we omit the Nile valley, controls 
less than two thirds as much territory as France, but the regions so 
controlled are more productive, comprising large portions of two great 
river systems. These areas are a considerable section about the 
lower Niger, and a large part of the upper Zambesi basin, extending 
southward to include the Transvaal and Cape Colony. Egypt, tak- 
ing in the whole Nile valley, is under Turkish suzerainty, but is ad- 
ministered by Great Britain. Portugal possesses two colonies of 
good proportions: Angola, which has a coast-line of over a thousand 
miles southward from the mouth of the Congo, and Portuguese East 
Africa, with almost twice as much coast-line, on either side of the 
mouth of the Zambesi. German East Africa, German West Africa, 
and Kamerun, comprise the principal German holdings. Italy claims 
most of Somaliland, Belgium has its hand on the Congo State, and 
Turkey exercises authority over Tripoli. Morocco and Abyssinia 
are the two largest of the native states which are not under European 
influence. The only other such state is Liberia, a negro republic, 
settled by colonization with freedmen from the United States in 1821, 
having its capital at Monrovia, so named after President Monroe of 
this country. This great political development of Africa has oc- 
curred within one hundred years. 

Note 6. The Missionary Problems of Africa. All of the foregoing 
descriptions bear largely upon the problem of Africa's evangelization. 
The mountainous nature of the country makes travel and transporta- 
tion in the interior very difficult, sometimes impossible. But ease of 
transportation is so important a factor in the rapid development of a 
country, that where it is not obtainable, any movement for uplifting 
the inhabitants meets frequent hindrances. Even the large rivers 
contribute but slightly to the solution of the difficulty, for as they 
approach the coast from the highlands they are broken by falls and 
rapids which limit navigation and commerce to the lower river, ex- 
cept as a troublesome portage around the falls will permit reship- 
ment. The frequently low and marshy coast-line favors the devel- 
opment of those malarial diseases which are more common in Africa 
than in any other continent. Moreover, aside from the diamond 
and gold production, the natural wealth of the land is not sufficient 
to form any great attraction to foreigners. These considerations 
make it improbable that alien people will ever become a very large 
constituent of the population. A Christian civilization is not likely 
to be imported into Africa at large. The task of the missionary will 
be to develop out of the negroid races new nations whose God shall be 



90 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Jehovah, and whose national ideals will conform to Christian stand- 
ards of purity, justice, and mercy. 

This task will be specially difficult by reason of the prevalence of 
fevers, the multiplicity of tongues, the childlike simplicity and igno- 
rance of the people, and in some quarters the constant and annoying 
opposition of the government, as of recent years in the Congo region. 
In spite of these difficulties, and at the cost of hundreds upon hun- 
dreds of lives, large areas of Africa have undergone a wonderful moral 
transformation within a single generation. The task has only just 
begun ; time will witness its glorious consummation. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(j) The heart of the continent. Drummond: Tropical Africa. 
(2) Dark peoples and their customs. Naylor: Daybreak in the Dark 
Continent, ch. 2. (j) Life of Livingstone. Hughes: Livingstone. 
(4) The Egyptian situation under British control. Cromer: Egypt, 
2 vols. ; also G iff en : The Egyptian Sudan. (5) The story of the 
Congo region. Johnston: George Grenfell and the Congo. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What religions have we studied in the preceding lessons ? 2. How 
has religion affected the development of the human race? 3. What 
is your estimate of the non-Christian religions? 4. Why do we judge 
Christianity to be the final religion? 5. How will the studies which 
we begin to-day differ from those which have preceded? 6. What 
is the subject of to-day's study? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What can you say of the size, location and coast-line of Africa? 
of its mountains? (Note 2.) 



2. Describe the chief river systems of the continent. The lakes. 



3. What are the natural products of Africa? 



4. In respect to what features does the twelfth degree of north 
latitude serve as a convenient line of demarcat ; on? (Note under 
map, p. 86.) 



Fourteen The Problems of Africa 91 

5. Into what chief groups may we divide the people? (Note 3.) 

6. Characterize the religious and social life of the two main divisions. 

7. Tell what you can of the languages of Africa. (Note 4.) 



8. What has been the initial work of many of the African mis- 
sionaries ? 



9. Describe the political situation of the continent. (Note 5.) 



10. What three native states are free from European control! 



11. How do these features which we have been discussing affect 
the problem of Africa's evangelization? (Note 6.) 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. How will the physical features of Africa affect its future com- 
mercial development? 2. What bearing has this fact upon the mis- 
sionary problem? 3. Which would you regard as the more hopeful 
missionary territory, the north of Africa or the south? Why? 4. 
What degree of importance do you attach to the linguistic labors Of 
missionaries? 5. Is the political partition of Africa among European 
nations to the advantage of the African natives? 6. How does the 
political situation affect the missionary enterprise? 

Mission Gem. " If I had a thousand lives, Africa should have them 
all." — Bishop Mackenzie. 



92 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Personal Thought. For centuries Africa has supported a native 
population numbering about 150,000,000, and the conversion of these 
people now lies at the door of the Christian church. In a measure 
this is my personal task. I should acquaint myself with the problem 
of Africa's conversion, and should become familiar with the agencies 
which are being employed. Might I not, through study, and prayer, 
and work, definitely relate myself to the extension of the kingdom of 
Christ in this dark continent? 



Lesson 15. THE REDEMPTION OF AFRICA. Christian 
Forces in the Dark Continent. 

Scripture Reading: An Early African Convert. Acts 8 : 26-40. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To note some of the pioneer work 
of modern African missions, the chief forces of opposition against 
which Christianity must contend, the situation to-day, and the price 
to be paid for a Christian Africa. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Pioneers of Modern African Missions. Among the hun- 
dreds of Christian heroes who have given their lives for the spiritual 
redemption of Africa, the following are conspicuous, (i) Robert 
Moffat. Robert Moffat, a Scotchman, born in 1795, sailed for South 
Africa as a representative of the London Missionary Society at the 
age of twenty- two. Though he landed at the Cape he was not content 
to stay where mission work had become safe and comparatively easy, 
but soon passed beyond the limits of civilization and, in company with 
another missionary, began work in the northern regions of Cape Col- 
ony, among the wild Bechuanas. From this time onward he gave 
himself unremittingly to the work of Africa's redemption, accepting, 
in all the fifty-three years of active service, but one brief furlough. 
He labored for twelve years, before his earliest church of six members 
was organized. The communion service employed at the first Lord's 
Supper was one which had just been received in response to a request 
made by Mrs. Moffat two years before, when the outlook was still very 
dark. In writing to a friend in England, she had said, " Send us a 
communion service; we shall want it some day." This incident 
illustrates the indomitable cheerfulness which permeated all the work 
of Robert and Mary Moffat. During the long years of labor, Moffat 
reduced the language to writing, and translated the entire Bible into 
the vernacular. In 1872, having returned to England, where he died 



Fi f teen The Redemption of Africa 93 

in 1883, he received the degree of doctor of divinity from the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh, and a testimonial of about £6,000. Of genial 
temperament, optimistic, and exceptionally courageous, Moffat ex- 
ercised his persistent will to the overcoming of every danger and 
difficulty. Though he found the Bechuanas murderous savages, he 
left them with their language reduced to writing, with some desire to 
cultivate the ideals of civilization, and with the beginning of a Christian 
church. 

(2) David Livingstone. " I have sometimes seen, in the morning 
sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever 
been." These words from the lips of Robert Moffat came to David 
Livingstone as the call to a life work in unexplored Africa. From 
1840 till his death in 1873, he gave himself unreservedly to African 
exploration. The story of these long years of struggle, many of them 
spent with no English companion, driven to his explorations in the 
conviction that he was merely breaking ground for later missionaries, 
persistently fighting the slave trade, winning the confidence of hostile 
chiefs and cannibal tribes, made partially deaf by African fever, and 
temporarily blind by a projecting branch, burying his dearly loved 
wife on the banks of the Zambesi, lost to the world for years, and 
found again by Henry M. Stanley at Ujiji — who shall ever tell the 
sum of those solitary years! Of him Stanley wrote: "For four 
months and four days I lived with him in the same hut, or the same boat, 
or the same tent, and I never found a fault in him. I went to Africa 
as prejudiced against religion as the worst infidel in London. But 
there came to me a long time for reflection. I was out there away 
from a worldly world. I saw this solitary old man there, and I asked 
myself, ' Why does he stop here? What is it that inspires him?' 
Little by little, seeing his piety, his gentleness, his zeal, his earnest- 
ness, and how he went quietly about his business, I was converted by 
him, although he had not tried to do it." At four o'clock one morn- 
ing, on the shores of Lake Bangweolo, his black servants found him 
upon his knees at his bedside, his candle still burning. " The weari- 
ness and painfulness, the watchings, the hunger and thirst, the fast- 
ings, the loneliness, were all past." His heart they buried in Africa, 
and his body they carried to the coast and gave into the keeping of 
the British Consul. Final interment took place in Westminster 
Abbey, when a nation did him homage and the whole world paid him 
tribute. 

(J) Alexander Mackay. Stanley's Challenge to Christendom, is- 
sued from Uganda in 1875, and bearing the appeal of King Mtesa 
that missionaries be sent to his people, fell under the eyes of Alexander 



94 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Mackay, son of a Scotch clergyman and at that time chief constructor 
in a great engineering establishment at Berlin. Mackay offered him- 
self to the Church Missionary Society and pleaded for an opportunity 
to go. He was accepted, and with seven companions started for 
central Africa. Within three months one had died, and ere the first 
year closed, the African fever claimed two more. The end of the 
second year saw Mackay, alone of the eight, still living. In Uganda, 
on the shores of Victoria Nyanza, he labored twelve years, defying 
" fever and persecution, the intrigues of Romanists and Mohammedans, 
the martyrdom of his converts, and attempts upon his own life." 
Exiled at last from Uganda, he gathered some of his converts at 
Usambiro on the southern border of the lake and there for three years 
more carried on his missionary labors until, in 1890, the deadly fever 
claimed him also. Only six years after his death, the fruit of the seed 
which he was the first to sow was thus summarized: " A hundred 
thousand souls brought into close contact with the Gospel — half of 
them able to read for themselves; two hundred buildings raised by 
native Christians in which to worship- God and read His word ; two 
hundred native evangelists and teachers entirely supported by the 
native church; ten thousand copies of the New Testament in circula- 
tion; . . . the power of God shown in changed lives — and all this in 
the center of the thickest spiritual darkness in the world." 

(4) Paul, the Apostle of Banza Manteke. Paul, " the Apostle of 
Banza Manteke," was the son of a chief who ruled over one of the 
Congo tribes. His attitude toward the missionaries and their work 
was one of bitter hostility. He traveled about through more than 
fifty villages of his tribe, and by beating his drum, dancing, and dis- 
tribution of wine sought to break up the services of missionaries or 
the prayer meetings of the native Christians. But one evening he 
found himself on the bank of the Congo with no means of crossing, 
no friendly house in the rear, wild animals threatening him as night 
came on, and in his distress he ventured to pray to the Christian's God. 
The timely appearance of the boatman he construed as the direct 
answer to his prayer. Henceforth he gave himself wholly and un- 
reservedly to the preaching of the Gospel. After attending school, 
he asked to be sent to the worst village in the field. When this town 
refused to admit him, he pitched his tent just outside and began a 
siege. 'Here he labored persistently, enduring cold, hunger, priva- 
tion and persecution, until he built up a church within the town of 
over five hundred members. His church became a missionary center 
of the district, and over fifty of its young men enlisted as missionaries 
to carry the Gospel to other towns. In January of 1902 Paul died, 



Fifteen 



The Redemption of Africa 



95 



leaving behind him a living memorial in the changed hearts of thou- 
sands of his countrymen. 

Note 3. The Forces of Opposition, (j) Mohammedanism. Mission 
work in the north of Africa is concerned almost entirely with Mo- 
hammedanism. But Mohammedanism is itself a powerful missionary 
agency, which by its fanatical hostility to the Christian propaganda 

becomes one of the most formi- 

dable forces with which Christian- 
ity has to cope. Wherever Chris- 
tianity gains a foothold in Moslem 
territory, persecution, misrepre- 
sentation, intrigue with govern- 
ment officials, and formal presen- 
tation to the courts of trumped-up 
charges against the missionaries, 
are the weapons chiefly employed. 

(2) Pagan society. The insti- 
tutions of a pagan society consti- 
tute another great barrier to the 
progress of missions in Africa. 
People on whose minds such ideas 
as the equality of women, the sin 
of slavery, the sanctity of mar- 
riage, the sacredness of life, the 
virtue of honesty, a God of love, 
and a life of righteousness have 
never dawned, cannot recast their 
world of thought in a moment. 
It is very difficult for them to 

see the reasonableness of any other way than their own. To reverse 
the social and moral ideals of a race is a long and arduous task. And 
yet the history of African civilization within the past generation is 
the story of almost miraculous progress. 

(3) Exploiting companies. With the political partition of Africa, 
which was completed about 1890, the exploitation of the land by 
chartered companies and by enterprising commercial agencies began. 
The vilest and deadliest alcoholic drinks were poured into Africa, 
and to the traffic in them the savages fell a ready prey. Good King 
Khama of Bechuanaland recognized the evil that it wrought, and 
pleaded with the British Administration against it. He wrote: 
" Drink puts devils into men, and destroys their souls and their 
bodies forever. Its wounds never heal. I pray your honor never to 




African Fetiches. 

Objects of worship used to preserve one from 
evil influences. (For a description of African 
fetichism, see Lesson 11, Note 2.) 



96 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

ask me to open even a little door to the drink." While some of the 
chartered companies have not been cruel in their operations, others, 
notoriously those operating in the Congo rubber region, have been 
inhuman beyond all description. A German company in its official 
organ even went so far as to state: " We have acquired this colony, 
not for the evangelization of the blacks, not primarily for their well- 
being, but for us whites. Whoever hinders our object we must put 
out of the way." This company definitely urged the suppression of 
the missions within its territory, and in view of its printed object the 
motive is not far to seek. 

(4) Roman Catholicism. Wherever Roman Catholicism has the 
opportunity of harassing Protestant missionaries it generally assumes 
a hostile attitude. This is possible especially in districts under 
French, Spanish or Portuguese dominion, where Catholic officials are 
not infrequently induced to take action directly hostile to the Prot- 
estant missions. In 1896, when the French came into possession of 
the island of Madagascar, Protestant mission property was violently 
seized by Catholics under protection of the government. When 
seizure was resisted, imprisonment, torture, and even murder followed. 
A papal bull directed against Protestant missions on the Congo 
stated: " The movements of the heretics are to be followed up, and 
their efforts harassed and destroyed." 

Note 4. The Situation To-day. There are to-day at work in Africa 
about one hundred missionary societies, one quarter of them being 
American. The work of these societies is carried on by more than 
twenty thousand men and women, more than three quarters of whom 
are natives. Public schools, seminaries and colleges, industrial 
schools, hospitals and churches, are among the institutions supported 
by these bodies. Almost the whole of Africa is now sparsely dotted 
with mission stations. From these centers radiate the most helpful 
and wholesome influences for the uplifting of the continent. Almost 
four thousand day schools, and over a hundred and fifty institutions 
of higher learning under missionary control are contributing their 
quota to this end. Region after region is becoming accessible as never 
before to Christian occupation, and unless the civilization of Africa is 
to be a civilization without Christ, the forces of the church must at 
once enter the continent in advance of the commercial agencies. Al- 
ready the native church has achieved wonderful results, notably in 
Uganda, South Africa, and the Congo. Some types of African Chris- 
tianity put American Christianity to shame. Stanley's report of his 
African journey contained the following testimonial: " The story of 



Fi f tem The Redemption of Africa 97 

the Uganda missionary enterprise is an epic poem. These native 
Africans have endured the most deadly persecutions. The stake and 
fire, the cord and club, the sharp knife and the rifle bullet, have all 
been tried to cause them to reject the teachings they have absorbed. 
Staunch in their beliefs, firm in their convictions, they have held 
together stoutly and resolutely." Liberality and faithfulness are not 
without beautiful exemplification. But the missionary burden is 
too great for the native Christians to carry alone. There are less 
than 500,000 reported communicants of the Protestant missions in 
Africa, while the entire nominal Christian population, including the 
Catholic, Coptic, Abyssinian and Eastern churches, is less than nine 
millions. This leaves approximately 141,000,000 to be reached by 
the Gospel. Such a task can scarcely be overstated. It will require 
much sacrifice, large vision, and earnest prayer to bring the kingdom 
to pass among such a multitude in the face of powerfully hostile forces. 
But only the fighting is ours ; the issue is His. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(j) Daybreak and opportunity in Africa. Naylor: Daybreak in 
the Dark Continent, ch. 8. (2) The native religious ideas as a force 
of opposition to African missions. Nassau: Fetichism in West Africa. 
(j) What pioneering in African mission work really means. Har- 
rison: Mack ay of Uganda. (4) Mission work at first hand. Springer: 
Snap Shots from Sunny Africa. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Mention the more important physical features of Africa. 2. How 
does the mountainous character of the country affect the missionary 
enterprise? 3. How do the river systems and coast-line affect the 
work? 4. What is the real missionary problem in Africa? 5. What 
is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Mention some of the conspicuous pioneers of modern African 
missions. (Note 2.) 



2. Sketch the career of Robert Moffat. 



'6. What was Moffat's contribution to the progress of civilization? 



98 - The Conquering Christ Lesson 

4. What was Livingstone's outstanding contribution to the mis- 
sionary cause? 



5. Tell what you can of Alexander Mackay, and of the success that 
ultimately crowned his work. 



6. What does the story of Paul, the son of an African chief, suggest 
as to the religious capacity of the African? 



7. With what forces in Africa does Christianity have to contend? 
(Note 3.) 



8. Where and by what means does Mohammedanism oppose mis- 
sionary work? 



9. How does pagan society present difficulties? 



10. Characterize the methods of some exploiting companies in their 
African enterprises. 



11. What have missions thus far accomplished for Africa ? (Note 4.) 



12. What is the task in respect to Africa as it now lies before the 
Christian church? 



Sixteen 



The Struggle in India 99 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Why should we regard Livingstone's work as thoroughly mis- 
sionary? 2. To what extent are the industrial schools, hospitals, 
and such lines of missionary work legitimate agencies in the introduc- 
tion of Christianity into a country? 3. Do you think the possibilities 
for a large and influential career are greater in Africa than in America 
to-day? State reasons for your answer. 4. Compare Africa with 
the United States in respect to its need for Christian workers. 5. 
Mention a list of ways in which the class can hasten the kingdom in 
Africa. Which of these ways will the class agree to adopt? 

Mission Gem. " I have suffered many things, but I would gladly 
go through it all again if I could flash that word ' Saviour ' into the 
darkness of another African tribe." — Willis R. Hotchkiss. 

Personal Thought. As I have studied the situation in Africa, I 
have become more aware than heretofore of the world's great need. 
Henceforth Africa must mean more to me. Ought I not mean more 
to Africa ? Yet Africa is only a portion of the great missionary enter- 
prise. Surely this work in which Christ would have me take a personal 
interest is of vast dimensions. It is large enough to demand the full 
exercise of my every power. Father in heaven, grant that I too may 
love thy world, and, in that love, work and pray for the redemption of 
Africa. 



Lesson 16. THE STRUGGLE IN INDIA. The Gospel in 

Contact with Hinduism. 

Scripture Reading : The Countless Multitude of the Redeemed. Rev. 7 : 9-17. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To state the social and religious 
conditions under which Christian missions are prosecuted in India, to 
point out what Christianity has thus far accomplished for the land, and 
to indicate the lines of present and future work. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. The Non-Christian Religions of India. Missionary methods 
in India are largely governed by the complex religious conditions 
which prevail. Parsism, Jainism, Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and 
Hinduism are the chief non-Christian religions of the country. Nu- 
merically, the first two are a negligible quantity, but the Buddhists 
number about ten million, chiefly in Burma and Assam (to be studied in 
the next lesson), the Mohammedans, between sixty-five and seventy 
million, and the Hindus, over two hundred million. The most aggres- 
sive of these are the Mohammedans, who, though at present found 
chiefly in the northern provinces, are rapidly extending their influence 
into the heart of Hindu territory. The adherents of Mohammedanism 



100 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

develop an assertiveness, independence, pride and arrogance that 
frequently make them the influential men of the community. As a 
force of tremendous vitality and growing power Mohammedanism 
is one of the great factors to be reckoned with in the work of India's 
evangelization. 

The real struggle in India to-day, however, is with Hinduism. 
More than two thirds of the population profess this conglomerate faith. 
While the reform movements in Hinduism (see Lesson 3) indicate a 
growing sense of religious dissatisfaction, the great mass of the people 
are still idolaters. This religious degradation, with the social slavery 
involved in the caste system, suggests something of the situation which 
Christianity aims to relieve. 

Note 3. Social Conditions of the Land. Pride, polygamy and 
poverty are three of the principal factors in the social situation. Of 
these the first mentioned finds expression in a strict adherence to the 
caste system. The Brahmans are the proudest set of men in India. 
But it is no less true that even the low-caste men nurse a sense of pride 
because of their own superiority to people of still lower caste; and so 
jealously is this pride cherished that where a member of any given caste 
is won to Christianity, the whole caste feels disgraced, persecutes the 
convert, sometimes to death, and arouses the utmost hostility against 
the missionaries. To this pride, in many instances, may be traced the 
hostility to institutions such as mission schools, which seem to have 
little relation to caste distinctions. With rare exceptions, therefore, 
the Hindus look with disfaVor upon Christianity. Though at first they 
may welcome a missionary, their show of love may turn to fierce 
hostility when the first convert is won. 

Before the advent of Christianity in India polygamy was a national 
practice. Even to-day it is recognized by the British government, 
each of the wives in a polygamous household having equal legal stand- 
ing with all the others. This situation presents a problem of peculiar 
and grave difficulties to the Christian missionary. In pagan Africa the 
wives are the property of the husband, and have no legal standing. 
Hence the converted African can put away his wives at will, and con- 
form to the Christian monogamic ideal. In India this is impossible, 
for the wife's legal standing protects her from this summary dismissal. 
The situation is further complicated by the hardship and misery 
incident to any separation of the wife and her children from the house- 
hold of the father. How to meet the difficulty is as yet an unsolved 
problem. At one time certain Protestant missionaries actually pe- 
titioned the home authorities for permission to determine for them- 
selves whether or not polygamists should be baptized and received 



Sixteen 



The Struggle in India 101 



into the church, many of them feeling convinced that this was the 
most rational method of solving the difficulty. Fortunately this peti- 
tion was not granted — fortunately, because just at that time the native 
reformers were preaching against polygamy, and had the request been 
granted there would have existed the anomaly of the Christian church 
receiving those whom even heathen reformers denounced. The re- 
fusal of church membership to polygamists has its attendant evils, as 
frequently monogamist converts refuse to join where their brothers are 
not welcome. In one such instance, ten monogamists and one polyg- 
amist professed Christ, and sought church admission, but when the 
polygamist refused to give up his wives, and was therefore rejected as 
a candidate, all the others withdrew. The social ramifications and 
results of polygamy are multitudinous, encountering the missionary at 
almost every turn. 

The third social factor which greatly affects the missionary work of 
India is the terrible poverty of the people. The average monthly 
wage of ninety-five per cent of the Indian Christians is not more than 
two and a half dollars. This excessive poverty is due to three facts, 
viz., the caste-weakened industrial system, which limits certain trades 
and forms of labor to specific castes. A man out of work in one caste 
cannot take up work in another. To do so would arouse the hostility 
of the invaded caste, and would bring upon the invader the ignominy 
of having broken with his own people. This strict limitation placed 
by caste upon labor cripples industry and tends toward poverty. As a 
Christian is regarded as having broken caste, it is next to impossible 
for one to obtain employment, and how to earn a livelihood becomes a 
serious problem. A second fact of economic importance is that the 
natural resources of the country are chiefly above ground, i. e., India 
is relatively poor in minerals. Seventy- five per cent of the population 
are agriculturists. Yet large areas employed in the raising of cereals, 
especially the plains of the Ganges and the Indus, are areas of uncertain 
rainfall, and it is in these regions that the great Indian famines occur. 
When these famines scourge the land, one half of India goes hungry, 
and thousands of persons starve to death. These periodic occur- 
rences pauperize whole villages and cities, and the baneful effects are 
felt throughout the country. The scarcity of minerals and the con- 
ditions of industry make it impossible for India to-day to assume any 
commercial importance. Hence, without a commerce, afflicted by 
frequent and devastating famines, and limited in industry by the 
pauperizing caste system, India experiences a poverty such as few 
other lands know. Add to this the fact that India supports a denser 
population than any similar area, China excepted, and the economic 



102 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



situation is seen to present a grave problem. The hardships involved 
are increased when one becomes a Christian, and herein lies the bearing 
of India's poverty upon the problem of her evangelization. 

Note 4. One Century of Christian Missions. In spite of all the 
hindrances indicated in the preceding paragraph, Christianity has 
made an amazing record of achievement in India within one hundred 
years. To-day there are more than three million Christians, all de- 
nominations, in British India, and in a tabulation of nine religions 
of the land, Christianity comes fifth. Yet it is not in numbers alone 
that Christianity records its victories. A new Indian civilization has 
arisen, dissatisfaction with the old religious forms is manifest on every 
hand, education is being thrown open to the masses, national ideals are 
growing in the hearts of the people, and men who once were satisfied 
with their crude beliefs and depressing customs are now experiencing a 
new life and a larger hope. The transformation, though sadly incom- 
plete, has been remarkable. But some will say this has been due to 
British control rather than to Christian missions. A sufficient reply 
is to be found in the great mutiny of 1857, and its attendant circum- 
stances, when British rule had been in the country for just a hundred 
years. Gold win Smith, referring to the political situation in India 
at that time, cites the case of a British soldier who sought permission 
to burn the natives alive and to impale them. This led Lord Elgin, 
reporting to the home government, to exclaim, " These are your 

teachers, O Israel! 
Imagine what the 
pupils become under 
such leading ! ' ' Wher- 
ever government offi- 
cials have been men of 
Christian character, 
an attitude of sym- 
pathetic helpfulness 
toward the native has 
been manifested. 
These men have 
brought blessing to 
the empire. But in 
view of the lack 
of sympathy which 
other officials, during a long term of years, have never failed to mani- 
fest, it is fair to assert that practically all the sympathetic helpfulness 
which has ever been extended toward the natives is due to Christianity. 




Forman Christian College, Lahore, India. 

This institution, carried on by the Presbyterians (North), is located 
in the capital city of tbe Punjab. The student body numbers about 
450, of whom over one half are Hindus. The college is an important 
contributor to the rising Indian generation of educated Christian 
gentlemen. 



sixteen The Struggle in India 103 

Add to this, that many of the finest educational and humanitarian 
enterprises of modern India are the direct work of Christian missions, 
that a large proportion of the most influential men of the country- 
received their stimulus to public service and their equipment for it in 
missionary institutions, and it becomes increasingly difficult to discount 
the pre-eminence of Christian missions in the story of India's expanding 
life. 

Note 5. The Present and the Future of Christianity in India. Not- 
withstanding this record of Christian progress in India, the Gospel has 
not the hold which it should have. Admittedly there is a larger force 
of missionaries at work in India than in any other land, but the doors 
of opportunity are open to-day as never before, and the widespread 
unrest of the populace is an urgent appeal to the Christian church to 
pour men into the field. Many considerations which may operate to 
deter men from going to Africa, do not apply in India. English is 
the medium of education in all the higher institutions of learning, and 
affords an avenue of approach to thousands of Hindus. The churches 
of Christ in America could well afford to send some of their strongest 
preachers to reach this class of English speaking natives. The climate 
is more suited to health than that of Africa. The intellectual calibre 
of the people will severely tax the acumen of the brightest minds 
our American universities can train. The skilful workman will find 
.abundant opportunity to organize industrial work for Christian 
communities. The young physician who is not afraid of hard work 
will find a degree and variety of practice unknown to the American 
physician. 

India spells the word " opportunity " in large letters. Leading 
Mohammedans and Hindus are beginning to acknowledge that only 
Christianity will meet the needs of the people. The only question is, 
How soon will the church enter and claim its own? With India won to 
Christ, the problem of winning the Orient will be solved. Children 
of India will spread the Gospel throughout the East % as the Occidental 
never can; they will give to the message an interpretation in keeping 
with its Oriental origin, and will unquestionably enrich the spiritual 
content of Occidental Christianity. How' soon will the voluntary 
offering of means and of men make this consummation possible ? 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) The history of India. Hunter: Brief History of the Indian 
Peoples. (2) An extended study of India's chief religions. Mitchell: 
The Great Religions of India, (j) Biography of William Carey, Henry 



104 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Martyn, or Alexander Duff. (4) Pernicious effects of the caste 
system. Carmichael: Things as they Are. (5) Problems of mission 
work in India. Jones: Krishna or Christ, ch. 9. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Mention some of the pioneers of African missions. 2. Which of 
these characters make the strongest appeal to you? Why? 3. 
Name several of the forces in Africa which are antagonistic to Chris- 
tianity. 4. Which of these, would you say, presented the most 
serious menace to Christian missions? 5. How would you characterize 
the present situation in Africa? 6. How do you regard the future in 
regard to African Christianity? 7. What mission field do we study 
to-day? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. State the object of to-day's lesson. (Note 1.) 



2. Name the leading non-Christian religions of India. (Note 2.) 



3. Which of these is the most aggressive? 



4. Which one, however, is the greatest numerically? 



5. What three factors largely determine the social situation of the 
country? (Note 3.) 



>. How does caste adversely affect Christian missions? 



7. To what difficulties does the practice of polygamy give rise! 



Sixteen The Struggle in India 105 

8. Mention several causes for the widespread poverty of India. 

9. How is this poverty related to the missionary enterprise ? 



10. What have Christian missions achieved for India? (Note 4.) 



11. Characterize the present situation. (Note 5.) 



12. What lines of work are open to American young men of high 
ability and sterling character ? 



13. What would the conversion of India mean in the evangelization 
of the Orient ? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Why not leave the Indian people in undisturbed possession of 
their native faiths? 2. What is there about the Christian religion 
which makes it a powerful social dynamic? 3. Is it fair to say that 
every worthy element of British influence in India is due to Christian- 
ity? If so, to what extent is modern India indebted to Christ? 4. 
To what extent is the Christian church fulfilling her obligation toward 
India? 5. What inducements could you present to a Christian busi- 
ness man to establish himself in India ? 

Mission Gem. " There is no land under the sun more calculated 
than India to display the Grand Forces of God's omnipotent grace. 
For here it has to face and overcome the combined resistance of the 
caste system, entrenched heathenism, and deeply subtle philosophies. 
Praise God ! it can and will be done. Thou, who alone doest wondrous 
things, work on." — Rev. T. Walker. 

Personal Thought. The church has only just begun to touch the 
problem of the world's evangelization. The call is now being made 
for a vast army of men and women to take the field without delay. 
Every able-bodied, thoroughly consecrated person can be used. 
Christ can use me in some point in this work if I will but let Him. 
What shall be the nature of my response to His great commission ? 



106 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Lesson 17. BURMA AND ASSAM. Work where the 
Message is Welcome. 

Scripture Reading: The Love that Leads to Doing. 1 Jo. 3 : 13-18. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To sketch briefly the course of mis- 
sion work in Burma and Assam, and to discuss several questions in 
practical missionary statesmanship. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Mission Work in Burma. In the northeastern part of 
British India, bordering on China, lie the two large provinces of Burma 
and Assam. Both are hilly regions, this physical similarity making 
them a geographical unit. In the social and economic conditions of 
each country are found numerous diversities which greatly complicate 
missionary work. They have an area four times as great as the New 
England states, though they contain a population only twice as large, 
about seventeen millions. The chief religion of Burma is Buddhism, 
its adherents numbering over nine millions out of a total population 
of ten and a half millions. Next in importance to the Buddhists 
are the pagan animists. They are found mostly among the northern 
hill tribes, and their religion consists chiefly in a belief in spirits 
haunting every nook and dell, hovering in multitudes in the air, 
awaiting only an opportune moment for practising some capri- 
cious trick. Missionary work is carried on chiefly among these 
Buddhists and animists. But the number of tribes and the great 
diversity of their language and customs necessitates a similar diversity 
of missionary agencies and methods. Work among Burmans, Karens 
(several dialects), Kachins, Shans, Chins, Talains, Telugus, Tamils, 
Chinese, and English is carried on in as many languages. Practically 
all these people have been given the Scriptures, either in whole or in 
large part, in their own tongue. Were each of these tribal groups 
separately located, apart from others, the problem would be relatively 
simple, but they are intermixed so that in a given town or city one 
mission must be established for one class of work, and a distinct mission 
founded for another class. Under these circumstances, the work of 
evangelization in Burma presents unusual problems, and demands 
exceptional executive ability on the part of those who are responsible 
for results. 

The first period of mission work in Burma, 1807 to about 1834, 
was carried on with extreme difficulty and with comparatively small 
success. Among the faithful workers of those early years, the out- 
standing figure was that staunch pioneer, Adoniram Judson. In 1834 



Seventeen Burma and Assam 107 

he completed his translation of the Bible into Burmese, and in the same 
year fourteen missionaries sailed from Boston for Burma, bringing up 
the total number of workers in that field to thirty-six. This date, 
therefore, marks the inauguration of a new era of expansion and ad- 
vance. At this time the American Baptists (North) were the sole 
workers in the field, and remained so for twenty-five years, until in 
1859 the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel came in. 
In connection with its twenty- two missions, this organization conducts 
two high schools, two Bible training schools, a hospital, an orphanage 
and a printing-press, carrying on about seven per cent of the Christian 
mission work of Burma. In more recent years nine other societies 
have established work in Burma, but at the present time the total 
work accomplished by them is approximately three per cent of the 
whole, while the Baptists alone carry on over ninety per cent. This 
society at present has a force of over two hundred missionaries in the 
field in addition to almost two thousand native workers, the church 
membership is over 64,500, and in its more than seven hundred schools, 
including one college, it is giving instruction to over 26,000 pupils. 
Five hundred of the schools are supported by native Christians. 
Almost fifty per cent of the churches are entirely self-supporting, and, 
poor as they are, the natives contributed within a single year over 
$106,000, i. e., an average of $1.65 per member. The native churches 
have their own home missionary society, and send out their own mis- 
sionaries for the evangelization of their unreached fellow countrymen. 
Note 3. The Enterprise in Assam. The social conditions sketched 
above in regard to Burma are generally true of Assam. Here, however, 
the hill tribes are wilder and, though Hinduism largely prevails, 
animism is the predominant religious belief of the people. The Assam- 
ese are related to the tribes just over the Chinese border, and use 
almost one hundred and fifty dialects. In their native villages they 
are typically heathen. Though their culture is crude, they incline 
toward savagery much less than do the African negroes. The inhabit- 
ants of the plains and river valleys are now being cared for educa- 
tionally, in large part, by the government schools, but in the hills the 
mission stations stand as the only forerunners of civilization. All 
the mission schools are free, at several industrial work is being carried 
on, and at the mission stations native teachers are trained for service in 
the lower schools. In Assam, as mainly in Burma, the American 
work is conducted by the Baptists, who opened up the field seventy-five 
years ago. While the work is much smaller than that done in Burma, 
its proximity to the southwestern provinces of China makes the field of 
strategic importance. 



108 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Note 4. The Ko San Ye Movement. Within the past few years the 
missionary publications have made frequent mention of the Ko San Ye 
movement, and a lesson on Burman missions would be incomplete 
without some explanation of the term. Ko San Ye is a Karen who 
was once an elephant driver. In his early manhood, through grief 
over the death of his wife and child, he sought retirement in the woods, 
and lived as a hermit. His solitary and upright life attracted a num- 
ber of religious zealots to him, until he had a large following. Obtain- 
ing a government grant of 20,000 acres of land, about a hundred miles 
from Rangoon, he founded a village of three hundred families, and 
named it Padoplaw. At this time he was a Buddhist, but was not 
satisfied with his faith. Hearing of the Christian religion, he visited 
the Rev. David Smith of the Shwegyin mission, under whose leading, 
after several months, he was brought to a recognition of Christianity. 
But the missionary tested Ko San Ye by keeping him waiting over two 
years for admission to the church. When at last the service took place 
at Padoplaw, more than one hundred of Ko San Ye's followers accom- 
panied their leader in baptism. From that day to this, Ko San Ye 
has been a revivalist of remarkable power, and has led thousands of 
his people to Christ. In one town alone, within the space of three 
months, notwithstanding the extreme caution which the missionaries 
exercise in accepting his converts, nine hundred were found whom 
they regarded as worthy of baptism. Ko San Ye regards himself 
merely as an aid to the missionaries in their work. When a great 
crowd gathers about him, he speaks briefly to the people, and then 
introduces the missionaries as his teachers, and asks for them a respect- 
ful hearing. Because of the independence of Ko San Ye, and because 
of his unusual power over throngs of men, the missionaries have 
exercised great caution in allying themselves with his work. At the 
same time, they gladly avail themselves of his cordial co-operation 
and are endeavoring to bring out of this great revival movement the 
best results. The movement has more recently been the subject of 
much criticism caused by certain self-constituted leaders who, " claim- 
ing divine powers and promising a new political and religious dispensa- 
tion," have taken advantage of Ko San Ye's influence to promote 
unsound financial schemes which, in many cases, have adversely 
affected hundreds of homes. From this excrescence the missionaries 
are trying to relieve the movement, that it may continue a power for 
good. 

Note 5. Object Lessons in Missionary Statesmanship. In several 
of its features, the work in Burma and Assam affords excellent oppor- 
tunity for a first-hand study of missionary problems, especially such as 



seventeen Burma and Assam 109 

have to do with the missionary policy of the boards or societies conduct- 
ing the work. The first problem has to do with the occupancy of fields 
by Christian forces. The various denominational boards engaged in 
missionary work are generally agreed that competition should not 
enter into the field work, and that to further this end one board should 
not open up work in territory already occupied by other forces. Fail- 
ure to recognize this principle in the past has produced the situation 
in Burma, where, out of eleven societies operating in the country, 
ninety-seven per cent of the work is carried on by two of the societies. 
Business sense and clear-headed statesmanship, as well as Christian 
charity, suggest the wisdom of the gradual withdrawal of at least some 
of the nine societies, and the relinquishment of their work to either of 
the two chief societies. Exceptions will occur where the work so 
carried on is of a special nature, as that for the lepers, or as that of 
the Young Women's Christian Association, or the British and Foreign 
Bible Society, but the principle of the partition of territory, and the 
assignment of it to some specific board which shall be responsible for 
its spiritual development, is the only satisfactory solution of several 
vexatious problems. It is not difficult to see that where several 
denominations carry on work in the same town, the pagan mind will 
have considerable difficulty in deciding just which denomination best 
represents Christianity. 

The Burma and Assam fields further furnish good illustrations 
of methods in missionary work. The basis of the work in these fields 
is educational rather than evangelistic. Schools and a literature are 
the first objectives of missionary endeavor. Hence the languages have 
been put into writing, grammars and lexicons have been formed, the 
Bible, or portions thereof, have been printed, and the people have been 
taught how to utilize this new means of gaining knowledge. As a 
result the spiritual harvest is delayed in its first appearance, but the 
final issue seems abundantly to justify the method. The results of 
straight evangelistic work for seven years may be compared to the 
arithmetical series of 3+3 + 3-1-3, etc. = 21, while the results of an 
educational method of work for a like period among a people who have 
no written language, may be compared to the geometrical series of 
2X2X2X2, etc. = 128. 

In the Burma and Assam work much stress has been laid on litera- 
ture, and this, too, has proven itself of great value. Hymn books, the 
Bible, commentaries, Sunday school lessons (including the " Life of 
Christ " and " Apostolic Church History " courses of the Bible 
Study Union Lessons) have been printed in a number of the principal 
dialects of the people. By this means the printed page carries the 



110 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



IPr¥llP 



Gospel to thousands whom the missionaries could never meet per- 
sonally. 

A third feature of the Burma and Assam work is the development 

of a strong native church. This is 
the missionary objective in every 
field, but it has been more readily 
realized in this particular one than 
in most of the others. The moment 
there has been organized a strong 
native church, self-supporting and 
strongly missionary, the great bulk 
of the evangelical work can, with 
proper oversight, be entrusted to this 
native element, which is invariably 
more acceptable to the people than 
are the foreign missionaries. 

Finally, northern Burma and 
Assam furnish a good illustration of 
missionary policy because, by virtue 
of their relation to the south- 
western provinces of China, they 
possess large strategic importance. 
When the hill tribes of Burma and 
Assam are converted, they will flow 
over the Chinese border and give to 
their related tribesmen the Gospel 
which they have accepted for themselves. The hills of this region 
probably constitute the gateway of Christianity for a large area of the 
Chinese empire. The recognition and seizing of strategically important 
regions is wise missionary statesmanship. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) The present status of mission work in Burma and Assam. 
Refer to latest annual report of the American Baptist Missionary 
Union, the Methodist Board of Foreign Missions, or any other society 
working in this field. (2) Chief races of Burma. Cochrane, Among 
the Burmans, ch. 4. (3) Native customs of the Burmans. Ibid., ch. 
3. (4) The development of the native church in mission fields. 
Brown, Why and How of Foreign Missions, ch. 6. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Mention the principal religions of India. 2. What is the 
missionary significance of Hinduism? of Mohammedanism? 3. 




A Typical Garo. 

Representative of a people formerly wild 
and greatly feared as head-hunters, among 
whom mission work has been very successful. 
The Garos have sent missionaries to two other 
tribes on the frontier. 



Seventeen Burma and Assam 111 

What three social factors have an important bearing upon the evangel- 
ization of India ? 4. What has one century of Christian missions 
wrought for these people ? 5. What are some of the needs of the field ? 
6. What is the subject of to-day's study? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Where are Burma and Assam located? (Note 2.) 



2. What are the two chief religions of these provinces? 



3. What social conditions complicate the missionary problem? 



4. Sketch the history of missions in Burma. 



5. What is the present situation? 



6. Describe the social state of the Assamese. (Note 3.) 



7. What is the importance of the Assam field ? 



8. Tell what you can of the Ko San Ye movement. (Note 4.) 



9, Describe the denominational situation in Burma. (Note 5.) 



112 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

10. What advantages lie in the denominational partition of territory? 

11. What is the relation between education and evangelization? 



12. What is the practical value of Christian literature in the native 
tongue ? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Mention some respects in which the Christianity of Burma com- 
pares favorably with that of this country. 2. Compare the relative 
merits of the evangelical and the educational methods of carrying on 
missionary work. 3. Justify a statesmanlike attitude toward mis- 
sionary problems. 4. Will the adoption of a strictly statesmanlike 
policy preclude the free action of the Holy Spirit in the choice of mis- 
sion fields and the disposition of missionary forces? 5. Other things 
being equal, would you prefer to place your denominational missionary 
contributions in those fields where your board enjoys the liberty of 
practically an entire field, or in those regions where its work overlaps 
that of other Christian forces ? Why ? 

Mission Gem. " Pour out, O Lord, the Holy Spirit upon all our 
feeble efforts, that we may be more successful, and upon Thy baptized 
people at home, that they may begin at last to wake up to the subject 
of missions, even though they have been sleeping these eighteen years 
— not to say centuries. "—^A donir am Judson. 

Personal Thought. Pioneers in missionary work have made much 
of intercession. Thousands of workers are to-day leagued together in 
the noon prayer for missions throughout the world. Is my own 
prayer life what it ought to be? Do I feel any sense of personal 
responsibility for missionary prayers? This beseeching God for 
blessings upon the great work of a world's uplift is one of the parts I 
may take in the inauguration of that blessed era when man shall no 
longer say to his brother, Know the Lord, for all shall know Him, from 
the least to the greatest. 



Eighteen The Awakening of China 113 

Lesson 18. THE AWAKENING OF CHINA. Influence of 
the Occident upon the Orient. 

Scripture Reading : As Sheep not Having a Shepherd. Mt. 9 : 35 — 10 : 1. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show how China, acted upon by 
Western influences, will, in the near future, take its place in the front 
rank of the world powers; and to point out the far-reaching signifi- 
cance of this new day in Chinese history. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Geography and Population of the Chinese Empire. The 

Chinese empire is made up of China Proper, frequently referred to as 
the " middle kingdom," and the four outlying dependencies, Mon- 
golia to the north, Thibet to the west, with Chinese Turkistan sand- 
wiched in between the two, and Manchuria lying to the east of Mon- 
golia. Chinese Turkistan, Thibet and Mongolia are practically un- 
known regions, although a few daring explorers have ventured to 
traverse their sparsely inhabited areas. With Manchuria and China 
Proper, it is otherwise, though as yet Manchuria, in its claim upon 
popular interest, lags far behind China. Throughout the remainder 
of this lesson, " China " will refer, as it strictly should, to the middle 
kingdom, or China Proper. Two great rivers, the Hwang-ho in the 
north and the Yang-tse-chiang in the south, having their sources in 
the high altitudes of Thibet, by tortuous courses flow eastward to the 
coast. The lower courses of these rivers pass through the great plain 
or lowlands of China, providing the finest internal waterways known 
to commerce. Ocean steamers of a thousand tons burden proceed 
680 miles up the Yang-tse to Han-kau. 

The natural resources of the country are said to be among the 
richest in the world. The largest coal deposits known are found 
here, and still more significant from the industrial point of view is 
the fact that side by side with them are great deposits of iron ore. 
Copper is found in considerable abundance in the province of Yunnan. 
Tin and salt are reasonably plentiful, and the precious metals are 
known to be present. 

Though estimates vary, the population of the Chinese empire may 
roughly be stated as 400,000,000, or one quarter the population of 
the world. Of this, approximately ninety per cent is in China, 
where the average density of population reaches the phenomenal 
figure of over four hundred per square mile. The greatest density 
of population is found in the lowlands, where it approaches the Indian 
extreme of 535, found in the province of Oudh. Throughout Mongolia 



114 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

and Thibet, the population numbers less than one per square mile, 
and in Chinese Turkistan and parts of Manchuria, less than twenty-five. 

Note 3. The Industrial Invasion. Christian missionaries preceded 
commercial interests in China, but the opening of the country was 
accomplished by a series of wars beginning with the opium war of 
1840, when England shamelessly forced the opium traffic upon the 
country, and terminating with the Boxer outbreak and consequent 
united action of the powers in 1900. By these wars, first five ports, 
and ultimately the whole country, were thrown open to a foreign 
commercial invasion. The English merchants were the first to profit 
by the changing order, but within the last generation manufacturers 
of Europe and America have used the country as a bonanza, turning 
the ignorance of the people into a source of gain. Foreign trade has 
literally preyed upon the country. In a land where previously the 
industries of the country were almost entirely confined to the homes 
of the people, the introduction of foreign goods could mean only in- 
dustrial hardship, and when, at a more recent period, foreign capital 
secured valuable concessions and franchises involving the control of 
vast sections of the country's natural wealth, China began to wake 
up to her real situation among the nations, and a spirit of resentment 
at the encroachments of the foreigner swept over the people. Burn- 
ing with indignation, they sought first to drive out the foreigner; 
when this failed, they sought to compete with him. This was the 
beginning of the Chinese hunger for Western ideas. And with the 
gradual acquisition of Western knowledge the Chinaman, with aston- 
ishing rapidity, has begun to take his rightful place in the development 
of a new China. The Canton-Han- kau railroad concession, which 
had been ceded to an American company, was repurchased by the 
Chinese government at a price three times the amount invested in 
order that this most valuable franchise might not remain in foreign 
hands. The most difficult bridge on the Imperial Railway of China, 
having a span 2,300 feet long, was constructed by a Chinese civil 
engineer who graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale 
University. These incidents are typical of China's response to the 
industrial invasion of her territory. 

Note 4. The Intellectual, Social, and Political Awakening. If the 

industrial strides of China seem remarkable, the intellectual advance 
is none the less so. Within the brief space of five years an educational 
revolution has occurred. The Chinese classics, which for centuries 
have been the sole school-books and educational standards of the 
nation, are now put aside, and in their places are to be found the 



Eighteen 



The Awakening of China 



115 



standard text-books of Western academies and colleges. The print- 
ing presses are unable to supply the demand for these books. The old 
examination stalls of Chengtu and Canton have been torn down, and 
out of their bricks have been built modern schools. And the examina- 
tions, long based upon the Chinese classics, are now based upon Western 
learning, including such subjects as mathematics, chemistry, physics, 




Old Examination Stalls. Modern School Building. 

The modern building has been erected on the site and from the bricks of the old stalls at Chengtu. 

social science and political economy. A year ago, at the examinations 
held in Peking, applicants for the highest degree were permitted to 
choose the language in which they would take the examination, and 
some took it in English. Such an incident is unparalleled in the lit- 
erary history of China. Every year the Chinese government is send- 
ing her most promising young men abroad for foreign education. One 
thousand of them are scattered among the universities of Europe and 
America, and six thousand of them are pursuing studies in the uni- 
versities of Japan. These men will be the leaders of the new China. 

In social affairs, also, China is undergoing a marvelous change. 
The position of woman is no longer one of absolute subjection. The 
established custom of foot-binding is falling into disuse, and local 
organizations of Chinese women have been established for the express 
purpose of fighting the custom, the members of the organizations 
unbinding their own feet. Several newspapers edited by women, for 
women, are published in Peking, Shanghai, Hong-kong, and other 
cities, and are proving successful. Western customs and manners 
are finding acceptance, largely through the characteristic desire of 
the Chinaman to imitate. Of tremendous significance, also, is the 
fight which China is making against the opium habit. Many of the 
dens are being closed, and the cultivation of the poppy plant is limited. 
The nations of the world are in agreement to help China in the struggle 



116 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

by prohibition of the importation of the drug, and there is every reason 
to believe that by the end of ten years, when the governmental decree 
against opium will be in full effect, the country will be free of the traffic. 

Finally, and of still greater significance, the political reforms into 
which China has already entered are designed ultimately to transform 
the absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy, placing the 
control of the nation in the hands of the people. As in some other 
of the present reforms, the government is going about this one with 
marked deliberation. The edict issued in 1908 laid out a program 
of procedure for each year for nine years, at the end of which time 
(1917) a parliament is to be elected to assemble in the city of Peking 
and inaugurate the legislative work of government. The suffrage is 
being guarded with jealous care. Property and educational qualifi- 
cations must be met by all voters, the legal age is placed at twenty- 
five, and certain classes, such as criminals, sons of traitors, Buddhist 
and Taoist priests, etc., are denied the franchise altogether. The 
final stage of constitutional government is being approached by estab- 
lishing as rapidly as possible local self-government. The first muni- 
cipal election ever held in China took place at Tientsin, in July of 1907, 
when the limited franchise was strictly enforced with salutary results. 

Note 5. Chinese People as Missionary Material. Students of 
Chinese character tell us that these people possess many excellent 
qualities, such as are inevitably destined to make the nation in the 
near future the leading industrial power of the world. Their patience 
is proverbial. Chinese workmen spent forty years in drilling an 
artesian salt well. They have great powers of imitation, as well as 
unusual ingenuity in the handling of difficult situations. Wherever 
they have established themselves as merchants and bankers, whether 
in India, South America, or their own seaport cities, restlessly indus- 
trious and given to thrift, they have shown themselves second to none 
in business ability. Add to these facts that there is no climate in 
which the Chinaman cannot live, and that the Chinese people are 
bound into a unity by a common historic past, by social ideas, and by 
a literature that can be read wherever a community of Chinese dwells, 
and it ceases to be a wonder that that nation which represents one 
quarter of the human race looms large upon the horizon of the future. 
Such people as these constitute a great challenge to the Christian 
church. There is in them the promise of a high type of practical and 
industrial Christianity — a Christianity that will feel at home in the 
merchant's store, and that will not need to blush for the methods of 
the counting-house. 

Note 6. A New Era for Mission Work in China. Some one has de- 



Eiahtem jfo e Awakening of China 117 

scribed the Chinaman as a religious triangle, because of his adherence 
to three religions. Apt as the term is, it looks toward the past rather 
than into the future. Once the missionary combated these religions 
which now are dying. Henceforth missionary methods in that field 
must be accommodated to new conditions. While the schools are 
being built, Christianity must place its stamp upon the teachers that 
shall be; while the country is growing up to constitutional govern- 
ment, Christian young men must be trained for positions of responsi- 
bility and leadership. Medical schools are to be manned; they should 
be manned by the best Christian men that the medical schools of this 
country can graduate. Institutions for the training of civil engineers 
are being built; here is a magnificent place for a young Christian civil 
engineer. A thousand doors are open in China for earnest Christian 
laymen, not missionaries sent out by our mission societies, but lay- 
men missionaries who are willing to put the cause of God first and 
their business second. For such as these, China is calling to-day with 
a loud voice. Twenty years from now, China will cease to call ; these 
places will be filled by her own sons. Within the next decade an army 
of Christian laymen could do more in the shaping of a Christian China 
than has been accomplished by a century of Christian missions. The 
issue is great while the privilege is fleeting. There is facing the Chris- 
tian church to-day no problem equal to China. Where are the young 
men and the young women who will mold the conscience and the heart 
of a new and giant nation? 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Brief sketch of China and her history. Smith: Rex Christus, 
ch. 1. (2) The customs of the country. Smith: Chinese Character- 
istics, (j) Defects of the Chinese social system. Smith: Uplift of 
China, ch. 3. (4) Treatment of Chinese women. McNabb: Women 
of the Middle Kingdom. (5) The present conditions in China. Re- 
cent magazine articles, especially the Hon. John W. Foster's in the 
National Geographic Magazine for Dec, 1906 (reprinted in pamphlet 
form by the Student Volunteer Movement), and David Lambuth's 
in Review of Reviews, Feb., 1909. See also Broomhall: Present-day 
Conditions in China, and Brown: New Forces in Old China. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Locate Burma and Assam. 2. Among what people is missionary 
work in these provinces chiefly carried on? 3. What measure of suc- 
cess has attended the work? 4. Characterize the type of Christianity 
developed. 5. What methods of work have been pursued? Do you 



118 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

approve of these ways of seeking to convert a people? 6. What is 
the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Name and locate the great divisions of the Chinese empire, 
(Note 2.) 



2. State what you can about the rivers of China. 

3. What are the natural resources of the country? 



4. How does the population of China compare with that of India? 
(Comp. Lesson 16.) 



5. Tell what you can of the foreign industrial invasion of China. 
(Note 3.) 



6. What effect did the invasion at first have upon the people? 
What later effect has become apparent? 



7. Give a brief sketch of the intellectual awakening. (Note 4.) 



8. In what social respects has the country been affected! 



9. Describe the political developments of the past few years. 



10. Describe the Chinese temperament and ability. (Note 5.) 

11. What kind of Christianity may the Chinese be expected to 
develop ? 



Nineteen The Winning of China 119 

12. At what point in the changing life of China lies the opportunity 
of the Christian church ? (Note 6.) 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What is there, in your opinion, about the country or people of 
China which makes the missionary enterprise there of supreme im- 
portance? 2. Compare Americans and Chinese with regard to their 
response to the Gospel. 3. To what extent is the missionary enter- 
prise responsible for more than the conversion of people to the Chris- 
tian faith? 4. Which of the changes, social, political, or intellectual, 
most significantly affects the missionary problem in China? Why? 
5. Do you consider the idea of laymen missionaries to China as prac- 
tical? State your reasons. 6. Give some reasons why you would 
like to go in such a way. Mention some considerations which might 
deter you. Of these two sets of reasons, which is the more convincing? 

Mission Gem. " After eight and a half years of journeyings among 
Asiatic peoples, I say unhesitatingly that the raw material out of 
which the Holy' Ghost fashions the Chinese convert, and ofttimes the 
Chinese martyr, is the best stuff in Asia." — Isabella Bird Bishop. 

Personal Thought. Time moves very rapidly. Privileges of to-day 
will be gone to-morrow. Doors of opportunity in China, which now 
are wide open, will soon begin to close. If Christ should seem to want 
me there, shall I hesitate to go? After all, does not that depend on 
how much I love Him? 

" Take my life, and let it be 
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. 
Take my heart, it is Thine own, 
It shall be Thy royal throne. 
Take my love, my Lord, I pour 
At Thy feet its treasure-store." 

— Frances R. Havergal. 



Lesson 19. THE WINNING OF CHINA. Christianity upon 
Chinese Territory. 

Scripture Reading: Christianity's Appropriate Message to China. Col. 3:5 — 4:1. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the present religious situa- 
tion in China, the activities of the Christian forces now on the field, 
and the possible future of Christianity among the Chinese people. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Status of Non-Christian Religions in China. The re- 
ligious situation in China presents a strange commingling of devotion 
to the memory of the departed, indifference to personal spirituality, 
and a strongly materialistic trend in modern thought. This is the 
legitimate result of efforts extending through centuries to welcome 
equally the unemotional agnosticism of Confucius, the mystical phi- 



120 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

losophy of the Tao, and the crass superstition of Buddhism. Once 
these forces may have been in conflict, but to-day there is perfect 
amity born of indifference. Even thirty million Mohammedans 
dwell in peace throughout China, neither practising proselytism nor 
suffering persecution. These old religions are now all but lifeless. In 
view of the sweeping changes being introduced into the empire by 
Western learning and the awakened national consciousness, there is 
little chance that they can ever be galvanized into activity. They 
have been decaying too long. Yet their baneful effects are still 
abundantly evident. Ancestor worship is general, superstitions and 
idolatry are encountered everywhere, and an immoral priesthood 
preys upon the people for sustenance and support. 

Tremendous as the new movement is in China, the majority are 
still anchored firmly to the past. Even many of the leaders are 
wholly unconscious of the end to which the awakening tends. They 
believe that industrial expansion and a revival of Confucianism can 
go hand in hand. It is pitiable to witness their efforts to cling to the 
old, while striving to introduce the new. 

This situation presents difficult problems to the missionaries. The 
acceptance of Western civilization by the Chinese will not necessarily 
include the unquestioning acceptance of the Western religion, while 
the development of national self-consciousness will tend to strengthen 
opposition to foreign faiths. The most encouraging outlook for 
Christianity is to be seen in the fact that already there has been estab- 
lished a Chinese Christian church of such strength as to make possible 
a native propagation of the Gospel. 

Note 3. History of Chinese Missionary Work. As early as 1807 
Robert Morrison, a Scotchman born in England, sailed for China by 
way of the United States because he could not get passage in a British 
vessel. His strictly missionary labors were limited to Canton, where 
there was a trading colony, and soon he was forced to leave this van- 
tage point and retire to Macao. During these early days he labored 
over his Chinese dictionary and grammar, and a translation of the 
Bible. Prior to the first opium war (1839-1842), though the mis- 
sionaries were effectually debarred from the empire, they besieged 
the country by establishing themselves at Malacca, Batavia, Singa- 
pore, Borneo, and Bangkok. In 1842 the termination of the war, 
accompanied by the Treaty of Nanking, opened five ports to foreign- 
ers. These cities were quickly occupied by no less than twelve mis- 
sionary societies, but the work prosecuted by them during the next 
sixteen years was merely preparatory. At this early time the field 
was entered by the Presbyterians and Methodists — the two denomina- 



Nineteen 



The Winning of China 



121 



tions carrying on the greater part of the American work now being 
done. A new period of Chinese missions begins with the termination 
of the second opium war in 1858, resulting in the opening of the in- 
terior of China to the missionary. In 1865 the China Inland Mission 
was organized, a society that has done a vast amount of pioneer work 
in interior China. But the greatest period of expansion begins in the 
last quarter of the nineteenth century, and extends up to the present, 
having been interrupted only by the Boxer outbreak of 1900. The 
societies which occupied the field at the beginning of this period 
pushed into the interior. It was at this time that the pioneer workers 
of the China Inland Mission began their journeys. To-day all of the 
eighteen provinces are occupied by Christian forces. This has not 
been accomplished without much sacrifice. Many of the missionaries 
have endured persecution, and not a few have suffered martyrdom. 
Yet when, in 1890, the Shanghai Conference issued a call for one 
thousand missionary volunteers in five years, the appeal was more 
than met. In the Boxer outbreak foreign missionaries, their wives 
and children, to the number of 180, were killed, and thousands of 
Chinese converts steadfastly met death rather than abjure their faith. 
But once more, as of old, the blood of the martyrs became the seed 
of the church, and with the termination of the season of persecution 
and suffering a new day dawned for Chinese Christianity. 

Note 4. Christian Forces and Methods. At the present time there 
are more than ten thousand Protestant Christian workers, including 
natives, in China, and 
a church membership 
of 200,000. Christian 
Endeavor Societies 
and Young Men's 
Christian Associa- 
tions are scattered 
among the towns and 
colleges, and are ex- 
erting a large Chris- 
tian influence. The 
officials in general ex- 
press a more cordial 
sympathy then here- 
tofore with mission- 
aries and their work, 

not infrequently manifesting their personal interest by generous con- 
tributions to colleges, industrial schools, hospitals, etc. Many lead- 




Ashmore Theological Seminary, Swatow, China. 



122 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

ing men in the new movement in China are also devout Christians — 
a fact which cannot but be of great significance in the determination 
of the character which the forward movement may develop. 

Among a people who justly pride themselves on their literary at- 
tainments, and among whom familiarity with the great writers of the 
past is a mark of distinction, literary and publication work makes a 
strong appeal. From the very first, missionaries in China have done 
a large amount of literary work, Dr. Young J. Allen, of the Presby- 
terian (South) Mission Board, dean of the literary workers of China, 
having himself written or translated about fifty volumes of history, 
geography, science, economics, theology, and" biography, much of the 
work being done at the request of the Chinese government. To-day 
books required for a full course in an English or American university 
are available for a Chinese student in his own language. In addition 
to all these books, there are countless tracts, magazines, and small 
religious publications, together with twenty-seven versions of the 
Bible, or portions of it. 

Medical work has been of untold value to the cause of Christianity 
in China. There is a great deal of truth in the oft-quoted expression, 
" China was opened to the Gospel at the point of the lancet." Where 
the Christian physician and surgeon has not gone, native cures of the 
strangest and crudest sort are in common use. Idols and astrologers 
are consulted as to the proper course to pursue. Magic formulas 
written on small pieces of paper are pasted about the sick-room, and 
on the corners of the bed. Sometimes these bits of paper are burned, 
and the ashes mixed with water which the patient is compelled to 
drink. Disgusting as well as useless concoctions are freely admin- 
istered to the ailing. If the attending medicine man thinks the evil 
spirit in the patient can be driven out by noise, gongs and fire-crackers 
are used to produce a hideous din. Sometimes the devils are believed 
to be driven out by thrusting a red-hot needle into the flesh. But 
thanks to the far-reaching work of ' the medical missionary, and the 
more recent governmental recognition of Western methods of medical 
practice, these crude and barbaric means are being displaced. In 
the Christian hospitals, which number about three hundred, thousands 
of in-patients are treated annually, and a large number of major 
operations are performed. Chinese medical schools are now training 
some of the best of China's rising generation, and one of these institu- 
tions holds to the high ideal of a five years' course, with nine school 
months in each year. In many of the hospitals the large out-patient 
department is necessarily placed in the hands of native assistants, as 
the foreign physician is wholly occupied with other features of the 



Nineteen xhe Winning of China 123 

work. By means of this merciful ministration, opposition to the 
Gospel is weakened or entirely broken down, and opportunity is af- 
forded to preach to the waiting patients, who, in the larger hospitals, 
frequently number several hundred daily. 

Because of the emphasis laid upon literary and medical work, it 
must not be supposed that the preaching of the Gospel is given a sec- 
ondary place. The physicians at present comprise only about one 
tenth of the foreign missionary force, and the missionaries engaged in 
the strictly evangelistic phase of the work are laboring daily to the 
full extent of their ability. 

Note 5. The Promise of the Future. There are few countries, if 
any, for which the future holds a greater promise than for China. 
Marvelously wealthy in natural resources, all parts of the empire 
readily accessible to maritime commerce, nourishing a people gifted 
with rare powers of patience, perseverance, and imitation, not slow 
to learn, and eager for a place among the nations of the world — who 
dares prophesy what China shall be one hundred years hence? Much 
as the Christian church has had to do with the inauguration of a new 
epoch in Chinese history, the time will soon come when the great 
work of cultivating the new civilization and spreading the new relig- 
ion among this ancient people must be left to the Chinese themselves. 
Even now, Christianity's mission in China is not so much to do the 
work of the new era as to determine its character. To-day, while 
the nation is still looking to Westerners for leadership and guidance, 
this may be done. Yesterday there were no schools in China, and 
to-morrow her own sons will be her teachers. But to-day neither of 
these conditions prevail, and the opportunity of the ages confronts 
the Christian church. Her failure to respond at once to the situation 
in China means irrecoverable loss for the kingdom of God. To tarry 
is to fail. To help in the creation of a new China is a privilege which 
any earnest young man or young woman may eagerly seek. School- 
teachers, physicians, mechanics, business men, and Christian workers 
in any and all legitimate lines, can find ample room for service. The 
present forces in China are pitiably insufficient. What are ten thou- 
sand workers against a multitude of 400,000,000? Let the Christian 
church face the opportunity, and let her answer be given to-day, be- 
fore it is too late. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(/) A history of Christian missions in China. Smith: Rex Christus, 
ch. 4. (2) The tragic crisis of 1900. Broomhall: Martyred Mis- 
sionaries of the China Inland Mission, (j) A Chinaman's view of the 



124 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

situation in China. Chang Chih-Tung: China's Only Hope. (4) 
Actual experiences in mission work. Soothill: A Typical Mission in 
China. (5) The problems and method of developing a strong native 
church. Gibson: Mission Problems and Mission Methods in South 
China, chs. 7-11 inclusive. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What bearing have the natural resources of China upon her de- 
velopment? 2. What harm has been done by the foreign industrial 
invasion of China? what good? 3. Which of the many reforms now 
in progress do you consider the most significant? Why? 4. What 
opportunities are open to American young men and young women in 
China? 5. What is the topic of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is the status of the non-Christian religions of China ? (Note 
2.) 



2. What effects of these religions are still evident in the life of the 
people ? 



3. What is the possibility of a revival of these old faiths? 



4. State what you can of the early history of Chinese missions. 
(Note 3.) 



5. What has been the period of greatest expansion? 



6. How has the Boxer outbreak of 1900 affected the church in 
China? 



7. What Christian forces are at work in China to-day? (Note 4.) 



Nineteen The Winning of China 125 

8. What attitude do many of the leading Chinese take toward the 
work? 



9. What valuable literary work has been done in conjunction with 
the missionary enterprise? 



10. Tell what you can of the medical work. 

11. What percentage of the missionaries are engaged in it? 



12. What is the promise of the future in regard to a Christian 
China? (Note 5.) 



13. What distinctive contribution will Christian missions make to 
the new era? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. In view of the nobility of many of the writings of Buddha and Con- 
fucius, why are they not more productive of virtue ? 2. Why were the 
first fifty years of modern missionary work in China, though conducted 
at large expense and with small return, eminently worth while? 3. 
Compare China with India and with Africa in respect to the induce- 
ments it offers as a field for a life-work. 4. Of the several lines of 
possible work, which would probably bring the most fruitful returns? 
Upon what considerations do you base your answer? 5. Would you 
like to go to China with the intention of helping to shape its national 
destiny? Why? 

Mission Gem. " Aside from Christianity, there is no visible hope 
for China. With it, after age-long slumbers, she will awake to a new 
life in a new world." — Arthur H. Smith. 

Personal Thought. Many of those who have gone to China have 
had in them the spirit out of which martyrs are fashioned. Is it some 
selfish pursuit, or the fear of toil, or hardship, or death, that keeps me 
from giving myself wholly and unreservedly to the church's greatest 
task? It is true that ill health, family obligations, or other incapac- 
ities, serve as adequate excuses in many cases; but do these apply to 
me? Can the life which I have planned out for myself — physician, 
engineer, teacher, merchant, minister — be spent to largest advantage 
here or in China ? Dare I be true to the answer? 



126 The Conquering Christ Lessor. 

Lesson 20. THE CONFLICT IN JAPAN. Christianity vs. a 
Self-satisfied Atheism. 

Scripture Reading: Life only through Faith in Christ. Gal. 3:1-14. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the present moral and 
intellectual situation in Japan, the manner in which the Christian 
forces are endeavoring to meet it, and the magnitude of the task which 
still remains. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Island Empire. The empire of Japan embraces a 
chain of islands, which, including Formosa, extends from the southern 
extremity of Kamchatka to a point off the southeastern coast of China, 
a distance of over 2,600 miles. Five of these islands are of consider- 
able size, Yezo and Hondo being the largest. The smaller islands are 
over two thousand in number, but the entire area of the empire is 
little more than that of the state of California. 

Notwithstanding its limited size, Japan sustains a population half 
that of the United States. The distinct facial types exhibited by the 
upper and lower classes may be due to the several tides of Tataro- 
Mongolian immigration from which the present race seems to have 
descended. The people are effusively polite, immaculately clean, 
intelligent, light-hearted, and much given to sociability. In the 
northern island of Yezo are still to be found about 17,000 aborigines, 
known as the Ainu. These people are an exceedingly hairy race, their 
limbs well covered with a coarse growth; they never bathe, and their 
religion consists in a crude worship of certain animals and other natural 
objects. 

The country is so mountainous that only about twelve per cent 
of the area is adapted to agriculture. One half of this is used in the 
cultivation of rice, the most important of the staple cereals grown. 
Japan has no large farms. In carrying on their limited operations, 
the people have shown considerable ingenuity in terracing the hillsides 
— a method of gardening which adds largely to the natural beauty of 
the scenery. Small tea plantations are numerous, and the cultivation of 
mulberry trees assumes large place in connection with the silk industry 
of the people. The islands are especially rich in timber. Pine, chest- 
nut and oak are common, while the camphor laurel is so abundant as 
practically to place the world's trade in camphor in the hands of the 
Japanese. 

In minerals Japan is not especially wealthy, though the copper 
mines of Ashio are remarkable for the purity of their metal and for 
containing the largest known copper deposits of Asia. Iron and coal 



Twe "ty The Conflict in Japan 127 

are not wanting, but the gold and silver deposits are generally small 
and poor in quality. 

Note 3. The Moral and Intellectual Situation in Japan. In Lesson 
7 reference was made to the fact that while the Japanese are abandon- 
ing their old religious forms and faiths, they still retain the evils and 
immoralities connected with them. It would not be fair to say that 
no higher morality has found its way into Japan along with Western 
learning, for the new statutes on marriage and the family relation 
bear evidence to the contrary. Nevertheless, actual conditions are 
but slightly improved, if at all. This is due, in part at least, to the 
fact that at present two powerful forces are augmenting the evil. 
Japan has entered upon a new industrial era, which means that the 
thousands of young men and young women, many of them mere boys 
and girls, who formerly worked at their homes, are now gathered into 
great industrial establishments, silk factories, and the like. The 
indiscriminate crowding and housing of these operatives inevitably 
tend to a still further lowering of moral conditions. Some of the 
leaders of the nation are awake to the situation, and are urging leg- 
islation which will end these corrupting conditions, but the task is 
large and probably cannot be accomplished at once. What the in- 
dustrial pressure is doing for the working classes, an atheistic philos- 
ophy, which recognizes no divine authority, is doing for the more 
educated. Thousands of intelligent Japanese acknowledge no source 
of moral obligation outside of themselves. Such a conviction in the 
vast majority of instances works for the moral deterioration of the 
individual, and among the higher classes of Japanese it helps to keep 
alive customs and practices abhorrent to a Christian community. 

Intellectually Japan is awake as never before. The rising genera- 
tion is taking rapid strides in modern social development. But the 
outstanding desire of the Japanese young men is to take over for them- 
selves all the advantages of a Christian civilization, without the Chris- 
tian religion. The colleges are turning out thousands of materialists 
and atheists. The people are turning away in throngs from their idols 
and other objects of worship, but less than 100,000 have found their 
way to Christ. The others, disbelieving in all spiritual agencies, are 
coldly indifferent to the Gospel. Yet the situation is by no means 
discouraging. The Young Men's Christian Association is carrying 
on a notable work at Tokyo, and other Christian organizations are 
continually meeting with greater favor. Not infrequently leaders of 
Japanese thought are outspoken against the popular tendencies just 
mentioned. Count Okuma, in addressing a body of young Japanese, 
used these words: "The noble life which the Bible holds up to admira- 



128 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

tion is something that will never be out of date, however much the 
world may progress. Live and preach this life and you will supply to 
the nation just what it needs at the present juncture." 

Note 4. Christian Forces and their Distribution. There are about 
fifty different missionary organizations operating in the Sunrise King- 
dom. Of these, over two thirds are American societies carrying on 
eighty per cent of the work. There are in all about eight hundred 
foreign missionaries in the field. These are distributed in keeping 
with a policy of " centralization," i. e., the establishing of strong 
centers of influence rather than the scattering of forces broadcast. 
Ten cities together contain over eighty per cent of all the foreign 
missionaries, and over seventy per cent of all the Japanese workers 
and churches, while of the total church membership three quarters 
are found in Tokyo and Yokohama. In the former city nearly forty 
different societies have placed their forces, though many of the suburbs 
are untouched. This centralization has meant that the first effort of 
the missionary is put forth to win the student classes. As a conse- 
quence the industrial and agricultural masses have been largely over- 
looked. In view of the fact that almost nine tenths of the population 
remain untouched by missionary effort, it is a serious question whether 
the policy of centralization has not been carried too far in Japan. 

One feature of the Christianity of Japan which is eminently worthy 
of mention is its tendency to coalesce. Sectarian distinctions are 
wiped out, except as missionary organizations emphasize them. As 
a result, many movements in the nature of Christian union have taken 
place among the Japanese churches, a typical instance being found in 
the organization of the Methodist church of Japan by the amalgama- 
tion of all the forces and interests of the Methodist Episcopal (North) , 
Methodist Episcopal (South), and the Canadian Methodist societies 
operating in Japan. Union theological schools, union publication 
interests, and amicable exchanges of territory and stations are more 
common in Japan than in other foreign fields. Practically all the 
Protestant churches use the Union Hymnal published by the Meth- 
odists in their fine printing establishment at Tokyo. 

The same spirit of independence which has characterized these 
union movements has led to the organization of the- Kumi-ai body 
and a Home Mission Society. The latter organization in 1895 de- 
cided to receive no more foreign funds, but to depend solely upon native 
contributions. A number of its enterprises are now self-supporting 
churches, and in the prosecution of its work it employs about 150 
evangelists. The Kumi-ai, or Associated Churches, were originally 
missions of the American Board (Congregational), from which rela- 



Twenty 



The Conflict in Japan 



129 



tionship they have withdrawn, establishing their independency. 
This body manages its own affairs and supports its own work; there 
is, however, cordial co-operation with the missionaries, many of whom 
are engaged in evangelistic work in connection with the Kumi-ai. 
Thus far, thirty-nine churches of the mission have been taken over 
into the new organization, which, by virtue of its own missionary 
activity, now contains fifty-three churches in all. It is not unlikely 
that we have here in germ the native Congregational church of Japan. 

Note 5. Methods of Missionary Work. The medical work, so im- 
portant a factor in China, has lost much of its importance as an agency 
in the evangelization of Japan, because private hospitals and govern- 
ment institutions are developing so rapidly. In China one half of all 
the missionary societies carry on hospital work, but in Japan this is 
true of only one seventh of the societies. Moreover, in the latter 
country there is a rapidly increasing number of highly trained native 
physicians who, in the course of a few years, will make the call for 
missionary physicians less imperative. 

In respect to educational work, also, a careful study of the field 
suggests that schools and colleges are becoming less and less an im- 
portant factor in 
the evangelization of 
Japan, inasmuch as 
the government 
schools are taking a 
relatively high stand- 
a r d — in many i n- 
stances surpassing in 
quality the work of 
the mission schools. 
In the latter, the 
moral atmosphere is 
much better than can 
be found in the gov- 
ernment institutions, 
but the scholarship is 
not such as to attract 
the best students. By raising their standards and setting before 
themselves an educational ideal distinctly in advance of the public 
schools, the missionary teachers would again assume the leadership 
in educational work in Japan. But this would involve large expendi- 
tures and cannot be done until the boards receive adequate funds. 

As it is practically impossible for a foreigner to acquire a polished 




The Doshisha School, Kyoto, Japan. 

This picture shows the science hall, chapel, and recitation buildings. 
The institution was founded in 1875 by Joseph Hardy Neesima, and 
is to-day exerting a wide Christian influence in Japan. 



130 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

literary style in Japanese, most of the work done in providing a 
Christian literature has unfortunately had to be revised by native writers. 
With the rise of a body of competent native believers the Christian 
literature of the country should enter a new era of growth. Native 
authorship and closer adaptation to Japanese modes of thought will 
probably make such a literature more widely acceptable than here- 
tofore. 

A strong evangelistic campaign, from now until Japan is won, 
seems to be the supremely important thing in the Island Empire. 
To carry on this work, and to provide forces for invading the un- 
reached fields of Japan is still an enormous task. While the estab- 
lished work can in many places be left to native forces, a vast amount 
of genuine pioneering remains to be done. The inducements to work 
in Japan are many, and the drawbacks are almost none. Missionary 
parents and children need not be separated as in other fields, the cli- 
mate is relatively healthful, the natural surroundings abound in beauty 
and cheering features, the work is large, and the return from a life 
investment here is as rich as the heart can crave. But still, as in so 
many other fields, there arises the query, " Who will go for us? " 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) The land and the people. Griffis: Dux Christus, ch. 1. (2) 
Progress of the missionary enterprise. Clement: Christianity in 
Modern Japan. (3) Women's interests in the Island Empire. Bacon : 
Japanese Girls and Women. (4) Recent developments and what they 
portend. Gulick: The Evolution of the Japanese, and Watson: The 
Future of Japan. (5) The life of Joseph Hardy Neesima (by Hardy), 
or of Guido Fridolin Verbeck (by Griffis). On Verbeck see Lessons 10 
and 11 in Heroes of the Faith course. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. When did modern missions begin in China? 2. What has been 
the period of greatest advance? 3. What lines of mission work are 
being pursued? 4. Do you regard the methods employed as best 
suited to China's evangelization? Give reasons for your answer. 
5. What line of work should you prefer to follow should you go to 
China? 6. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is the size and population of Japan? (Note 2.) 



Tweni y The Conflict in Japan 131 

2. What are the characteristics of the people? 

3. Tell what you can of the natural resources of the country. 

4. State the moral conditions which prevail. (Note 3.) 

5. What are two contributing causes to this situation ? 

6. How has the intellectual movement expressed itself? 

7. What Christian forces are in the field ? (Note 4.) 

8. How are these distributed with reference to the cities? 



9. In what respect have the Japanese shown a commendable in- 
dependence of spirit? 



10. Tell what you can of the Home Mission Society of Japan; of 
the Kumi-ai body. 



11. How do medical missions rank in importance in Japan? (Note 
5.) 



132 The Conquering Chnst Lesson 

12. Describe the situation of missionary educational work. 



13. What are the possibilities of developing a native Christian 
literature ? 



14. In view of the present situation, what method of missionary 
work would you regard as of chief value? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What strategic importance attaches to Japan as a mission field? 
2. Judging from the character of the people, what would you say as 
to the strength and virility of that Christianity which the Japanese 
will probably develop? 3. Is the industrial life of Japan calculated 
to hinder or to help the religious development of the people? 4. Do 
you feel that the missionary forces of Japan are well distributed? 
Why? 5. What would you suggest as a policy to be pursued with 
regard to the mission schools? 6. What could you do to help make 
your suggestions possible of fulfilment? 

Mission Gem. " If the faith of the first century fills us all, Japan 
will be a Christian nation within this century." — The Maishu, a Japanese 
paper. 

Personal Thought. The missionary task of the Christian church 
assumes vast proportions as I contemplate it. I cannot do a great 
deal, possibly, in the solution of its countless difficulties, but I can do 
my share. And indeed, that is all He asks of me — my share. I can- 
not give Him more, I ought not give Him less. Personal considera- 
tions may well be laid aside in favor of His will. What is my share? 



Lesson 21. THE GLAD STORY OF KOREA. Open Doors 
to the Hermit Nation. 

Scripture Reading: A Missionary's Crown and Joy. 1 Thes. 2:1-14, 19, 20. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To note the principal factors in 
the development of Christianity in Korea, and to point out the char- 
acter and importance of the country as a mission field. 



Twenty-one xhe Glad Story of Korea 133 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Country and People of Korea. Korea occupies a 
peninsula, frequently compared with Florida for general shape, which 
juts out from the adjacent territory of Manchuria in a southeasterly 
direction, having the Japan Sea to the east and the Yellow Sea to the 
west. The extreme width of the peninsula is about 135 miles, and 
its length about 600. A chain of mountains, wooded in the northern 
part and barren in the southern, runs through the length of the penin- 
sula nearer the eastern than the western coast. On either side of this 
range, fertile and well-watered plains of limited area extend to the 
seas. These plains, which fringe the coasts and extend inland along 
the rivers, provide stretches of rich soil which produce from two to 
four crops annually. As there is an ample and reliable rainfall, irriga- 
tion is needed only for the rice. Most cereals and root crops, tobacco, 
cotton and hemp, are readily grown. The rainy season occurs during 
the summer, which is rendered quite tolerable by cool sea breezes. 
During the remaining nine months of the year, the climate is ideal, 
and foreigners are not subject to diseases of locality. 

The mineral resources of the country are practically untouched, 
though gold, which has been exported in considerable quantities, is 
obtained by a crude form of placer mining. Besides the gold, de- 
posits of iron and coal, silver, galena and copper are known to be present. 

The Koreans are of Mongolian stock, in some respects resembling 
the Chinese, in others the Japanese. Physically, they are well devel- 
oped, and mentally they are liberally endowed. They almost in- 
variably dress in white, which gives a characteristic appearance to a 
group of Koreans. Their language has an alphabet and is poly- 
syllabic, and herein differs from both Chinese and Japanese. While 
their literature has been chiefly the Confucian classics, they have a 
small number of native writings. They value education and culture, 
recognize numerous social grades, and are unfettered in life and 
thought by any powerfully organized religious sect, such as the 
Hindus or Buddhists. Though the official classes practice Confu- 
cianism, and the people believe in demonism, Christianity is rapidly 
permeating the country, completely transforming the life and thought 
of the people. Formerly Korean women were entirely subservient 
to their husbands, and seldom appeared on the streets, but Christian- 
ity is fast changing these customs. Owing to long periods of abom- 
inable misgovernment, most of the people have become discouraged 
and indolent, and poverty has become widespread. 

Note 3. New Life in Korea. The remarkable awakening experi- 
enced by the Orient mainly within a decade, has entirely changed the 



134 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

fortunes of the erstwhile " Hermit Nation." The alleged failure of 
Russia to observe treaty stipulations regarding Korea brought on the 
Russo-Japanese war, terminated by the Portsmouth Treaty in Sep- 
tember, 1905, by which Korea came within Japan's sphere of influ- 
ence. In 1907 Japan forced the abdication of the king, and in 1910 
annexed Korea to her own domain. Unfortunate as this was for the 
national integrity of Korea, it cannot be denied that Japan has in- 
troduced many improvements. She has brought about beneficial 
changes in the government and courts of the land, built new roads 
and founded schools, given employment to thousands of persons and 
set in motion the wheels of industrial progress. Now that these 
innovations have been forced upon the people, the whole country has 
responded, and a new life has become apparent throughout the nation. 
A thousand Korean students are away from home, pursuing studies 
in foreign countries. Since the Russo-Japanese war, a network of 
railways has been stretched over the country ; a new system of finance 
has been introduced, telegraph lines have been established through all 
the land, and countless social and political changes are being effected. 
Korean life, to-day in a state of flux, is being run into new molds; it 
will soon set, when changes will no longer be readily made. Hence 
the urgency of the situation, as regards religious life in Korea. 

Note 4. Christian Entrance and Work in Korea. Until within the 
present generation, Korea has been closed to outside influences. In 
1884 Dr. H. N. Allen removed from China and settled in Seoul, where 
he soon proved himself of value to the royal family. In a court 
intrigue one of the Min princes, a favorite cousin of the queen, was 
seriously wounded, and his life was saved only through the timely 
and skilful service of Dr. Allen. This opened the way for the entrance 
of other physicians and missionaries into the country, and it was not 
many years before missionary enterprise was well established. About 
eighty per cent of all the mission work in Korea is being carried on by 
the Presbyterians and Methodists of America. This work, almost 
from the first, has produced good results. Medical, educational, and 
industrial work, features of missions essential in other lands, and de- 
signed primarily to win the confidence of the natives, have been 
largely unnecessary in Korea, since after the Gospel had received a 
fair hearing it was welcomed by multitudes. Within the first ten 
years less than eight hundred converts were won, but within the next 
six years, fifty thousand were brought within the church. To-day 
there are over two hundred thousand Christians in a population of 
twelve millions, while, if we include adherents and catechumens, that 
number must be increased to a round half million. 



Twenty-one 



The Glad Story of Korea 



135 




Severance Hospital, Seoul. 

The first well equipped hospital built in Korea, and an important 
feature of the Presbyterian work. Fourteen departments of work are 
carried on, including a medical school. 



Medical work in Korea, though for a brief time the forerunner of 
evangelistic work, now gains its chief importance as an auxiliary and 
aid. In view of the 
generally poor equip- 
ment of the govern- 
ment hospitals, mis- 
sionary institutions, 
when well equipped, 
are a distinct advan- 
tage to the missionary 
forces. Western edu- 
cation also is in a 
backward state, a 
condition due largely, 
if not primarily, to 
the fact that the mis- 
sionaries did not find 
it necessary to employ 
educational institutions as an entering wedge for Christianity. But 
now that the country is awake to its needs, schools and other institu- 
tions of a Western civilization are multiplying and assuming greater 
importance. 

Note 5. Character of Korean Christianity. The most marvelous 
feature of the Korean work is the type of Christianity which is being 
developed. Notwithstanding the rapidity of the growth, the Korean 
church is composed of almost an ideal Christian body. From the 
first, the converts have been made to feel the necessity of self-support. 
The missionary has been a director of native activities, rather than a 
pastor. When groups of native Christians petition for a church, they 
are told they must build one themselves, and if a reasonable amount 
of interest is manifested, the missionary may help. If a pastor is 
wanted, they are told that they must support him. The fitness of 
an applicant for church membership is tested by his ability to work 
for Christ and bring another person to Him. To guard the church 
from undesirable persons who may be moved by unworthy motives, 
applicants are first received as catechumens, and while they are thus 
on probation they are watched carefully and are instructed in Chris- 
tian truth. They are generally on probation for six months or a 
year, and if, during that time, they are unable to interest themselves 
zealously in the conversion of their fellows their right to church mem- 
bership is held in doubt. As a consequence of such a church-build- 
ing policy, Korean Christianity has developed certain remarkable 



136 The Conquering Christ 



Lessor, 



features. A strong spirit of evangelism pervades the whole church. 
When a church was asked for enough money to send out a home mis- 
sionary, an amount sufficient to send three was contributed, and the 
three were sent. When special Bible classes are held, people for miles 
around, some of them living several days' journey away, flock to the 
place of meeting. In one city a ten-days' institute was attended by 
over twelve hundred men. Much of the work, largely because of 
numbers, must be carried on separately for the men and women, and 
it is not unusual for men who have attended classes to return home 
and take care of the household interests for a number of days while 
their wives attend the women's sessions. Bible study has become a 
passion with the Korean Christians. One church has held Bible 
classes every evening for over two years. A consignment of 20,000 
Bibles, upon reaching its destination, was immediately sold. Such 
facts as these serve as an index to the unusually high character of 
Korean Christianity. 

Note 6. Importance of Korea's Future in the Evangelization of 

the East. Judging from the recent marvelous developments in Korea, 
that country may well become in the course of a few years the mis- 
sionary people of the Orient. Should this be the case, it is evident 
that the future of Korea will widely affect for the better the millions 
in China, India, and other countries of the East. Each of the four 
great Oriental mission fields possesses its own particular value to the 
evangelization of the world. India will contribute to Oriental Chris- 
tianity spiritual insight and interpretation, with special emphasis 
upon the mystical elements of the faith; China, perhaps the last of 
them to come to Christ, but destined to be greater than them all, will 
doubtless emphasize the social aspects of the Gospel; Japan will 
champion a type of Christianity eminently independent, unified, and 
rationalistic ; while Korea will contribute to the faith of the old Orient 
a high spirituality of life and a zeal for righteousness. Already the 
religious movement in Korea has overflowed into Manchuria, and the 
ever-widening circles of that influence are still being felt. The op- 
portunity for multiplying missionary effort is to be found in Korea 
as in no other field. Hundreds of communities are asking for some 
one to teach them of Christ, and many other places, in which the work 
is well established, are pitiably in need of reinforcements. A mission 
lesson may not be the place for an appeal for funds and men, but no 
thoughtful person who has a conscience and a heart can know the 
situation in Korea and not feel that the problems there awaiting 
solution are his business. 



Twenty-one xhe Glad Story of Korea 137 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Korea's present situation. Gale: Korea in Transition, ch. 2. 
(2) A missionary's observations in Korea. Baird : Daybreak in Korea. 
{3) Brief history of missionary work in Korea. Zwemer and Brown: 
The Nearer and Farther East, pp. 277-312. (4) Current items of 
success from the field. Missionary Review of the World (see index, 
Dec. numbers, 1906-9). Practically every number contains most 
encouraging reports from the field. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the size and population of Japan? 2. Tell what you 
can of the moral and spiritual condition of the people. 3. Compare 
the Christianity of Japan with that of this country. 4. How are 
the Christian forces in Japan distributed? 5. What are the principal 
methods of missionary work in Japan? 6. What are the inducements 
to missionary work in this field? 7. What field do we study to-day? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. State the object of the lesson. (Note 1.) 



2. Describe the country of Korea in respect to its physical features 
and material resources. (Note 2.) 



3. Characterize the people in regard to their physical and mental 
endowments. 



4. What is the present social condition of the country! 



5. How has the Oriental awakening affected Korea? (Note 3.) 



6. Sketch the more recent political history of the country. 



138 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

7. What are some of the innovations which have followed Japanese 
occupation ? 



8. Why does Korea's present situation constitute an appeal of 
special urgency to the Christian church? 



How was Korea opened up to missions ? (Note 4.) 



10. What can you say of the growth of Christianity in Korea? 



11. Characterize Korean Christianity. (Note 5.) 



12. Tell what you can of Bible study in Korea. 

13. What importance do you attach to the immediate evangeliza- 
tion of Korea? (Note 6.) 



14. Compare the places of India, China, Japan, and Korea in 
Oriental Christianity. 



15. What are the spiritual needs of Korea to-day! 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What natural features of Korea will contribute to make it an 
important Christian power in the Orient? 2. How do you think the 
industrial evolution of the country will affect the spread of Chris- 
tianity? 3. In what respects have Christian missions in Korea re- 
versed the usual course of missionary procedure ? 4. Do you approve 



Twenty-two j± t t fo e Ottoman Gates 139 

of the zealousness of Korean Christianity? Why? 5. In view of the 
receptivity of the people and the rapidity of conversions in Korea, 
what do you think of a policy of immediate advance in that country, 
involving a concentration of forces calculated to bring about the win- 
ning of the people to Christ within a decade? 6. What particular 
line or lines of work would you suggest as of special value. 

Mission Gem. " Cannot you say something or do something to 
make the church in America realize that here in Korea just now is the 
Christian opportunity of centuries? This situation is extraordinary 
and amazing. If the Christian church has any conception of strategy 
and appreciation of an opportunity, any sense of relative values, she 
will act at once — not next year, but now! " — William T. Ellis, news- 
paper correspondent. 

Personal Thought. The remarkable religious awakening in Korea 
has been accompanied by a simplicity of faith and an earnestness of 
endeavor almost unknown to the average Christian of America. Is 
there here a lesson for the deepening of my own spiritual life? God 
works through agents of great faith and consecrated energy, and when 
I am such He can work through me. 



Lesson 22. AT THE OTTOMAN GATES. Christianity in 
the Turkish Empire. 

Scripture Reading: A Pen Sketch of a Missionary's Life. 2 Cor. 5:20 — 6:10. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To describe Turkey's resources 
and people, her social and religious conditions in their relation to 
Christian advance, the Christian forces now in the field, their methods 
of work, and some of the results attained. f 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Turkey's Resources and People. Territorially the Turkish 
empire is made up of Turkey in Europe, Turkey in Asia, and Turkey in 
Africa. European Turkey is a narrow strip of the Balkan peninsula 
between the Adriatic Sea and the ^gean and Black Seas, comprising 
about 63,000 square miles. Asiatic Turkey lies south of Russia and 
the Black Sea, extends eastward as far as Persia, and, including 
Palestine (Syria), reaches southward to Arabia. This section com- 
prises roughly 600,000 square miles. In Africa the Turkish empire is 
represented by the vilayet of Tripoli, in area not quite 400,000 square 
miles. The total area of the Turkish empire is thus about one third 
that of the United States. Certain other countries over which Turkey 
exercises a nominal control are frequently regarded as forming a part 
of the empire. These include Egypt, Crete, and Eastern Roumelia, 



140 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

besides several other states of minor importance. Much of European 
Turkey is historic ground, Macedonia carrying us back to ancient 
Greece and Alexander the Great; the city of Salonica (ancient Thes- 
salonica) bringing us again into the companionship of the first far- 
reaching Christian missionary; and the metropolis of Constantinople 
suggesting the great schism between the Eastern and the Western 
churches and the Crusades of the Middle Ages. In Asiatic Turkey we 
are still in the midst of historic scenery. On the northeastern border 
we find the fertile Anatolian plateau crowned by " the tower-crested 
Ararat, the converging point of three empires." In the Euphrates 
river valley we come upon the early home of Abraham, and the modern 
Palestine is associated with a host of sacred memories. 

The Turkish empire embraces a great diversity of resources, climate, 
and inhabitants. The European portion possesses large undeveloped 
mineral resources, though much of it, outside of Macedonia, is barren 
and desolate. In Asiatic Turkey the once fertile valleys of the Tigris 
and Euphrates, now that the ancient irrigation systems have fallen 
into disuse, are turned into parched deserts by the summer heat. The 
extremes of temperature in the Anatolian plateau make the treeless 
central regions dreary and uninviting, but wherever the rivers break 
through the hills the scenery is often majestic and occasionally of rare 
beauty. In these regions conditions favor the cultivation of many 
fruit trees and wheat. Tripoli is in general unproductive and sup- 
ports only a scattered population. 

No other government rules over so many races and nationalities 
with distinct languages and customs as does Turkey. The most im- 
portant of these are the Ottoman Turks, the Greeks, and the Albanians 
of European Turkey, and the Armenians, Kurds, Greeks, and Arabs of 
the Asiatic provinces. In Tripoli are Moors, Arabs, Jews, Maltese, and 
several other nationalities. Practically no mission work is prosecuted 
in African Turkey. 

Note 3. The Social and Religious Conditions in the Country. In 
Turkey, religion and politics are inseparably connected. Every 
religious body is a political party and has its representatives in the 
Council of State at Constantinople. But the government itself is 
Mohammedan, though it recognizes as religious communities the Greek 
Orthodox, the Armenian Gregorian, the Nestorian, the Protestant, and 
the Roman Catholic churches. Every non-Moslem must belong to one 
or the other of these bodies. Because of this identification of religion 
with political partizanship, vast numbers of the people are only church 
adherents, and can in no true sense be called religious believers. Though 
the government nominally guarantees religious liberty to all, this has 



Twenty-two At the Ottoman Gates 141 

never meant liberty for a Mohammedan to become a Christian. Be- 
sides this, a fierce intolerance generally prevails between the sects. 
All these bodies, moreover, except the Protestant, have developed an 
exceedingly formal type of Christianity, in which ceremonialism 
entirely overshadows the spiritual life. All non-Moslems affirm that 
they are Christians ; and all baptized persons affirm that they are con- 
verted. Yet the majority are as ignorant of a spiritual birth and of 
the Gospel way of salvation as the Hindus of India or the Buddhists of 
China. 

The social development is on the same low plane as the religious. 
Ignorance and illiteracy characterize the people. This is particularly 
true of the Mohammedans. As the Koran is written in Arabic and 
must not be translated for Moslem use, it is rare indeed to find any 
other than an Arab who can read the book understandingly. The 
burdensome system of taxation which has heretofore prevailed has 
reduced the country to extreme poverty. Political intrigue, the 
governmental spy system, and religious jealousies have fostered deceit, 
lying, hypocrisy, and mutual distrust among the people. Freedom of 
thought and liberty of conscience, heretofore so strictly suppressed, 
have effectually prevented the development of manly characteristics. 
Finally, the social and moral ideals of all classes have been largely 
molded by Mohammedanism, which countenances polygamy and 
maintains the subserviency of women. All evils which spring from 
such conditions exist in Turkey in full force, abetted in a degree by 
the religions and condoned by the state. 

Note 4. Armenians and Armenian Churches. For over five centu- 
ries the Armenians have had no national existence, but the majority of 
them still occupy the region which has for many centuries been asso- 
ciated with their name, *. e., the territory centering about Lake Van 
and extending to the Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean seas. They 
number over three millions, two thirds of whom live within the 
Turkish empire. In personal characteristics and moral fibre they rank 
above the average citizens of the empire, though they are surpassed 
in the trades, professions, and general intelligence by the Greeks. 
Many of them are agriculturists, while others have won enviable 
reputations as merchants and bankers. In financial dealings they 
have the name of being slow, cautious, and shrewd. A number of the 
high financial positions under the government have been held by 
Armenians who have made their services indispensable to the life 
and prosperity of the country. 

Like many of the eastern peoples, the Armenians have developed a 
national church. In the fourth century they accepted Christianity 



142 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

through the preaching of Gregory the Illuminator, whence the name, 
" Gregorian Church." In 491 a meeting of Armenian bishops, by 
rejecting the doctrinal decisions of the Council of Chalcedon, effectu- 
ally separated the Armenian churches from the Christian church of 
that day. The Gregorians of course regard themselves as Christians, 
though for centuries they have been little more than a political party. 
With the more recent rise of an evangelical spirit in Turkey, how- 
ever, there have come some signs of a spiritual quickening in this 
communion. 

During the last century an evangelical spirit arose among the 
Gregorians, but was bitterly antagonized by their leaders. As a 
result the evangelicals were excommunicated, and thereafter organ- 
ized themselves with the help of missionaries into Protestant churches. 
It is with the training and development of these churches that the 
missionary forces in Turkey to-day are chiefly concerned. The shock- 
ing persecutions and massacres inflicted on the Armenians in recent 
times have been precipitated as much by race hatreds as by religious 
fanaticism. 

Note 5. Christian Forces and the New Turkey. Christian forces 
from England and America have been operating in Turkey almost a 
century. But, since every subject of the empire must belong to one 
or another of the religions permitted by the state (Note 3, above), 
missionary work has had to be carried on under peculiar conditions. A 
direct campaign against Mohammedanism was out of the question, 
because the relation between Mohammedanism and the state is of such 
nature as to cause apostasy from the former to be treated as treason 
against the latter. The missionaries, accordingly, were compelled to 
direct their energies toward reforms within the nominally Christian 
churches rather than toward the upbuilding of new religious bodies. 
The latter, however, has come about in a perfectly natural manner, 
much as the Lutheran Reformation of the sixteenth century, against 
the original intent of its leaders, led to the establishment of the 
Protestant bodies of Europe. To-day a number of the Protestant 
churches of Turkey are independent, but all are working harmoniously 
with the missionary forces in the several fields, and the missionaries are 
establishing the mission churches upon an independent basis just as 
rapidly as their development permits. The evangelical Protestant 
churches number about two hundred, and have a membership of 
twenty thousand. 

From the first, the mission work in Turkey has largely been that of 
the colporteur and educator. Seed thoughts of a larger and better 
life, faithfully sown for a number of years, finally began to bear fruit. 



Twenty -two 



At the Ottoman Gates 



143 



The first evident result of the work was the rise of the evangelical 
spirit in the late forties of the last century, noted above. From that 
time till to-day, the work has gone steadily on, often in the face of 
bitter opposition and cruel persecution. It is not an exaggeration to 
say that the lately-born national consciousness is a result of an 
awakened spiritual life. Not that the people at large have found a 
new religious understanding, but the leaders in the movement in the 
majority of instances were set on the road to the larger national goal 
by the missionaries. One of these leaders recently said to a mission- 
ary that the late developments in Turkey would have been impossible 
but for the preparatory work done by the mission schools throughout 
the empire. An instance shows the important place which these 






Anatolia College, Marsovan, Turkey in Asia. 

This institution is the educational ideal of a district covering 30,000 square miles, with a population of 
over 595,000. As foeders to the college, there have been established twenty-six other schools enrolling 
about twelve hundred students. In the same district are eight churches and a hospital of wide-reach- 
ing influence. 

schools have held in the development of the new Turkey. During the 
past fifteen years, St. Paul's Institute at Tarsus has graduated one 
hundred men. Of these, fifty-six have become ministers or teachers, 
and fifteen have become physicians; *. e., seventy-one per cent of these 
graduates have gone out into the surrounding country to act as positive 
forces in uplifting the next generation. The story of missions in 
Turkey " is written in the awakened intellect of all classes and races, 
in new conceptions of what Christianity demands of its followers, and 
in a changed atmosphere affecting the life and character of nearly all 
the youth born in the last generation, and destined to affect the 
empire still more vitally as the years go on." 

The Church Missionary Society (London), the American Board 
and the Presbyterian Board (North) are carrying on extensive medical 



144 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

work in connection with their missions. This work is not only afford- 
ing welcome assistance in the evangelistic work, but will probably, by 
its cures, do much toward breaking down the Mohammedan belief in 
fate. Since the promulgation of the constitution and the granting 
of religious liberty, the medical work is everywhere dispelling oppo- 
sition and prejudice. 

It is not unlikely that the new era in Turkey will give the Christian 
churches of America opportunities such as have never been offered 
in that land before. Here, as in China and Korea, the national life 
is now in the process of making, and thousands are giving up their 
inherited notions of duty, righteousness, morality and religion. It is a 
day of days for the church of Christ. The question of missions in 
Turkey and a rapid expansion of the work for winning the Moham- 
medan world to Christ, ceases to be a question of pure sentiment; it is a 
question of moral obligation, of simple loyalty to Christ, of states- 
manly devotion to a heroic and noble task. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(/) The checkered career of Turkey under the old order. Article 
on " Turkey " in Encyc. Brit. (2) Turkey and her recent develop- 
ment. Barton: Daybreak in Turkey. (3) History and faith of the 
Armenian church. Adeney: The Greek and Oriental Churches, pp. 
539-552. (4) Moslem persecution of the Armenians. See the maga- 
zine indexes of 1895, 1896, and 1909 for reports of the Armenian 
atrocities. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What are the physical features and material resources of Korea? 
2. In what respects is Korea a good missionary field? 3. Tell what 
you can of the character of Korean Christianity. 4. Why is the need 
for immediate advance in Korea very pressing? 5. What is the subject 
of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What are the divisions of the Turkish empire ? (Note 2.) 



Mention some of the regions of unique historical interest. 



3. State what you can of the material resources of the country. 



Twenty-two j{ t fa Ottoman Gates 145 

4. Mention one notable feature of the population of the empire. 

5. In Turkey, how is religion related to politics? (Note 3.) 



6. What is the character of the non-Moslem churches? In what 
sense are they Christian? 



7. Describe the social condition of the people. 



Who are the Armenians, and where do they live? (Note 4.) 



9. How do they compare with other peoples around them! 



10. Tell what you can of the origin of the Gregorian church. 



11. How did the Protestant churches arise? 



12. How are they related to the missionary work now being pros- 
ecuted ? 



13. Along what lines has the missionary enterprise of Turkey 
developed? (Note 5.) 



146 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. To what extent do you think late developments would have 
occurred in Turkey had it not been for .the work of the missionaries? 
2. What are some of the elements of hope in the present situation? 3. 
Which do you favor the more strongly, an effort to reform the Oriental 
Christian churches from within, or to build up a new church from 
without through proselytism? Why? 4. How does Turkey compare 
with India as a favorable mission field? with China? with Korea? 
5. Along what lines would you favor pursuing mission work among 
the Moslems? among the non-Moslems? 

Mission Gem. " The recent change of the Ottoman empire to a 
constitutional form of government has opened a new era in its history 
profoundly full of meaning for the kingdom of God. This is not the 
time for missions in Turkey to retrench. Through three quarters 
of a century there has been the laying of broad foundations ; now begin 
the awaited years of privilege." — Dr. John E. Merrill, President of 
Central Turkey College, Aintab. 

Personal Thought. The territory of Asiatic Turkey, from remote 
antiquity the battleground of nations and of many faiths, shall yet be 
the platform upon which one of the most glorious triumphs of Chris- 
tendom shall be won. . How soon will the church of Christ make this 
possible? That, in a measure, depends upon me. Help me, Master, 
to be true to the vision of a redeemed world, and grant that I may be 
faithful to my part in the ushering in of Thy kingdom. Amen. 



Lesson 23. CHRISTIAN OCCUPATION OF PERSIA, Pros- 
pects of the Work among Shi'ite Mohammedans. 

Scripture Reading: God Exalted among the Nations. Ps. 46. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To point out the advantages of 
Persia as a mission field, the extent and character of the work now being 
carried on, and the possible future of Christianity in that country. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Characteristics of the Country. Persia is bounded by 
Turkey on the west, Russia and the Caspian Sea on the north, Afghan- 
istan and Baluchistan on the east, and the Persian Gulf and the Gulf 
of Oman on the south. The extreme length is a little over a thousand 
miles, and its area about two and a half times that of Texas. Its popu- 
lation is about eight millions, nearly twice that of Texas. The country 
is mostly a high table-land, which, while cut with frequent valleys 
suitable for agriculture, is in large part desert and unproductive. The 
winters are bitterly cold, except along the maritime tracts of the south, 
while the summers are hot but, by reason of the clearness of the atmos- 



Twenty-three Christian Occupation of Persia 147 

phere, are not uncomfortable. Famine and drought occur frequently, 
while the scarcity of roads and the insuperable obstacles to ready trans- 
portation often make it impossible to relieve a famine district, even 
though food may abound in other parts of the country. 

Notwithstanding these unfavorable characteristics, all that the 
country really needs is development. At present, outside the imme- 
diate vicinity of the cities, there is but one modern carriage road, and 
that is a short one leading from the coast of the Caspian to the capital 
city of Teheran. There are no railroads in the country, though there 
is agitation for the construction of one running east and west from 
Teheran, and another from the capital to some point on the Persian 
Gulf. Such innovations will profit both government and people, for 
Persia is not without commercial resources. Where irrigation can be 
employed, the desert may be transformed into a garden, while in the 
upland valleys grows the finest wheat of the world. Persia is noted 
for some of her flowers, especially roses, and trees of rare beauty are 
commonly found about the larger towns. While her agricultural 
exports are not large, her wool and silk manufactures, especially rugs 
and shawls, are justly celebrated. Other Persian products, such as 
finely tempered sword-blades, inlaid work in metal and wood, and 
ornamental tiles of exquisite workmanship, would quickly assume a 
larger commercial importance with the introduction of Western 
methods and improvements in transportation. This problem is vi- 
tally related to that of popular education referred to below, and both 
must be worked out together. 

Note 3. The People, their Social Welfare, and their Religions. The 
bulk of the population of Persia is made up of descendants of the 
ancient Persian stock, though large numbers of aliens have drifted 
over the borders from Turkey and Turkistan. Notwithstanding the 
resulting modification of the racial type, the Persian physique, when 
given a fair development, is still fine, the features well cut and the 
carriage noble. In moral fibre, however, the wealthy Persians are 
notably weak, ruining their constitutions by wild dissipations. The 
poorer classes, while possessed of healthier tastes and habits, are 
generally so oppressed by the struggle for existence that nature seldom 
has a fair chance to develop the normal type. 

The prevailing poverty limits opportunities for social development. 
Nine tenths of the people are said to be illiterate, public school edu- 
cation being practically unknown. The religious teachings, such as 
they are, afford little encouragement to purity of conduct, except in 
the matter of abstinence from intoxicating beverages, as required by 
the Koran. Tobacco and opium smoking are prevalent, the former 



148 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

among women as well as men. The Persian, in spite of his poverty, is 
always hospitable, and the language of the common people possesses 
a wealth of polite phrases that makes it, in the Orient, what French is 
in the Occident. 

The condition of woman in Persia, as in Turkey, is deplorable. 
Among the wealthy, who commonly practise polygamy, the women 
are confined to the harem, they have no associations outside of the 
immediate family, and wives are not permitted to sit at a feast with 
the husband's guests. Among the poor the women enjoy much 
greater freedom ; and since polygamy is a costly luxury, the women in 
the lower classes are saved from the misery that prevails in the harems. 

The religious situation in Persia is much like that of Turkey. Ninety 
per cent of the people are Mohammedans — chiefly of that branch 
known as Shi'ites. All other Mohammedans are known as Sunnites. 
These sects differ not so much in doctrine, as on the question of 
Mohammed's legitimate successor. The hostility between them is so 
bitter that a Shi'ite who makes the pilgrimage to the Sunnite strong- 
hold of Mecca takes his life in his hands. Therefore places of pil- 
grimage within the Persian domain are substituted for Mecca, and 
to these shrines thousands of pilgrims flock annually. Often they sell 
all they have, or spend the savings of a long and hard life, to make the 
trip, and return penniless to their homes to live out the remainder of 
their days in poverty. The spirit of fanaticism is always present, 
though often latent, among the Shi'ites. Once each year, at least, by 
public procession and fanatical demonstrations, these people give 
expression to their fierce zeal for the faith ; it is then safer for foreigners 
to remain indoors. 

Another faith of Persia, known as Babism, had its rise in the last 
century through the preaching of a young Persian, whose tirades 
against the immorality of the priests aroused priestly hatred but popu- 
lar enthusiasm. He claimed to be a messenger sent to announce the 
second advent of the Mahdi, or director of the faithful, and though 
he was several times threatened with death, he continued his scathing 
denunciations with a fearlessness that finally brought him under the 
displeasure of the government, by which he was put to death. Since 
his day, the sect thus established, notwithstanding fierce persecutions, 
has continued to grow. It emphasizes the brotherhood of man and 
denounces polygamy. In its later developments it attempts to 
amalgamate Mohammedanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, 
and all other religions. Already there are said to be ten thousand 
members of the sect in the United States, though adherents them- 
selves place the number much higher. In Persia the number is prob- 



Twerdy-three Christian Occupation of Persia 149 

ably a little less than two millions. Many of them continue to call 
themselves Mohammedans, since acceptance of Babism does not 
necessarily involve a renunciation of one's previous creed. 

Note 4. Christian Forces and Methods of Work. In 1811, almost 
twenty-rive years before the first work was begun by societies now in 
the field, Henry Martyn, that peer among translators, stopped at the 
city of Shiraz for ten months, and there, a year before his death, com- 
pleted his translation of the New Testament into Persian. This trans- 
lation was the only one for nearly seventy-five years, and was read by 
thousands. It was not till 1836 that the Presbyterian Board (North) , 
the oldest in the field at present, opened its work in the country. From 
the first, Moslem hostility compelled the missionaries to pursue edu- 
cational and medical rather than directly evangelistic work. Christian 
preaching repeatedly met with immediate and open hostility. For 
this reason the early work was mainly among the Nestorians. These 
people seceded from the Eastern church about fifteen centuries ago, 
and the work of the Presbyterian Board and later of the Archbishop's 
Mission, of England, to bring them to a purer Christian faith was 
meeting with encouraging success, when Russian missionaries suc- 
ceeded in closing the breach of centuries and reuniting a large portion 
of the Nestorian church with the Greek church. This development, 
while a blow to the missionary interests, is not without its blessing, as 
the Nestorians have passed into a better communion than they, by 
themselves, sustained. Furthermore, it has turned missionary atten- 
tion upon the Mohammedans as a field within which definite work may 
now be conducted. The present time seems more opportune for such 
work than any period heretofore. 

The great bulk of mission work in Persia is carried on by two societies, 
viz., the Presbyterian Board (North) and the Church Missionary 
Society of London. Together these societies maintain not far from 
150 schools for boys and girls. With the awakening that has swept 
over Persia within a year, however, these schools are now wholly 
inadequate to meet the needs. As soon as comparative peace was 
restored after the deposition of the old shah (1909), the schools became 
crowded as never before with Mohammedan youths, so that here 
again, as in so many of the Eastern fields, a new demand has arisen 
for men, a demand which the Christian church ought to supply by an 
early increase of its forces. 

One phase of missionary labor which should not be overlooked is 
the relief work which is frequently necessary throughout Persia either 
because of local famines, or of Kurdish raids in the western part of the 
country. The Kurds are an extremely warlike people who inhabit the 



150 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

mountains of Kurdistan. Their marauding bands swoop down upon 
unprotected villages, seize anything and everything as booty, and, 
after a general devastation, return to their mountain lairs. Some- 
times these bands are made up of only a handful of bandits ; sometimes 
they constitute practically a small army. A missionary, writing 
home in 1908, thus describes one of these plundering expeditions of 
the Kurds: 

" In July, some 5,000 Kurds descended on one of the valleys and 
plundered and burned ten villages, killing a few of the people and 
destroying the crops. Most of the fighting men of the valley were two 
days' distance away in their summer pastures, as it was thought the 
flocks would be the point of attack. It was therefore as a surprise that 
the army of Kurds appeared early in the morning on the top of the 
mountain at the head of the valley. Our young preacher, Khoshaba, 
who also by birth is the chief of the valley, at the head of a small band 
met the Kurds on the mountain, and by skilful fighting held them in 
check until the women and children had time to cross the Zab to a 
place of safety. Khoshaba and his men then crossed the bridge, and 
held it against the Kurds, thus preventing a massacre of the people. 
But while they were safe they had to witness the burning of their 
homes and fields, and the plundering of their goods. ., . . It was sad 
to see the blackened walls of the villages, and the women walking 
among the ruins of their homes, beating their breasts and bemoaning 
their loss. I visited all the burned district, comforted them the best I 
could, and took a census of the villages and of the supply of food on 
hand for the winter, as a basis for the distribution of relief." 

Note 5.' The New Movement and the Future of Missions in Persia. 

As a result of the new movement that is sweeping over the Orient, 
Persia has begun to arouse herself. The opportunities for which 
missionaries have long been waiting in Persia are now daily being 
realized. Much of the earlier hostility to mission projects has dis- 
appeared, and in numerous cases the Mohammedans are actually 
inviting a larger activity on the part of the forces in the field. In the 
city of Teheran the government requested the establishment of a school 
by the missionaries, and is to-day calling for more young men to fill 
government positions than the schools and academies can supply. 
Moreover, the medical work and the hospitals, once opposed as agents 
employed in thwarting the will of Providence, are now welcomed and 
aided. In Ispahan the Moslems are supporting generously the medical 
work established there, and in Teheran a Mohammedan woman of high 
rank has founded a women's hospital. Probably Persia will never be 
as important a mission field as some we have studied, both on account 
of her relatively small population and her inability to influence power- 
fully any neighboring people. The conversion of the Shi'ites of 
Persia would have practically no bearing upon the conversion of the 



Twenty-three Christian Occupation of Persia 151 

Sunnites of the Ottoman empire, since the latter regard the former as 
heretics. But there are opportunities to-day for the Christian church 
in Persia which will not long remain. To-day the Persians are casting 
about for leaders who will guide the nation into a new epoch of its 
national history. Persia cannot produce those leaders at once from 
her own sons. But any force which can enter the country and elevate 
the national character, instil into the new national consciousness high 
ideals of citizenship and the state, and lend stability and vigor to 
national institutions will be welcomed. No other force is so capable 
of accomplishing this result as Christianity. Persia needs Christ. 
Will the Christian world give Christ to Persia? 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Pictures of Persia, both in ancient times and modern. Jackson : 
Persia, Past and Present. (2) Religious history of Persia. Bliss: 
Encyclopedia of Missions, art. " Persia." (3) Recent developments in 
Persia. See indexes of current magazine literature. (4) Work and 
observations of a medical missionary in Persia. Wishard: Twenty 
Years in Persia. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. How is Turkey territorially distributed? 2. In what section of 
Turkey is the greater part of the missionary work carried on ? 3. Why 
has not missionary effort been extended primarily to Mohammedans? 
4. Tell what you can of the Armenians and their churches. 5. What 
has Christianity already done for Turkey? 6. What is the subject of 
to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Describe the physical characteristics of Persia. (Note 2.) 



2. What is the present commercial status of the country? 



3. Suggest some ways in which the introduction of Christianity into 
Persia might modify this commercial situation. 



4. How would you characterize the people of the country? (Note 3.) 



152 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

5. What is the social condition of Persia? 

6. Tell what you can of the Mohammedans of Persia. 

7. What is the Babi sect? 



8. When, and by whom, was the New Testament translated into 
Persian? (Note 4.) 



9. For what people in Persia has the mission work been chiefly 
carried on? with what results? 



10. What societies now carry on the bulk of the work? Does the 
present equipment meet the need ? 



11. In what relief work does the missionary occasionally have 
to engage? 



12. How does the new movement in Persia affect the missionary 
problem? (Note 5.) 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Would you base an argument for missions in Persia upon the 
physical characteristics of the land? Why? 2. Why do you think 
that a high type of Christianity might be cultivated among the 
Persians? 3. What is your estimate of any religion which, like 
Babism, makes room for all religions within its creed? 4. Why should 



Twenty-tour Among the Islands of the Sea 153 

Persian missions be enlarged without delay? 5. What would Persia's 
ancient history seem to indicate with regard to the possibilities of a 
great future for the nation? 

Mission Gem. " It is the day of opportunity in Persia, and there is 
need for re-enforcements." — Rev. S. M. Zwemer, D.D. 

Personal Thought. As my conviction grows concerning the power 
of Christ to help me, I shall be more convinced of His power to help 
others. He who said, " I will never leave nor forsake thee," says also 
of one in need, " Bring him unto me." Forbid that I should be willing, 
my Master, to use Thy help for myself, unless I am willing to share it 
with others. 



Lesson 24. AMONG THE ISLANDS OF THE SEA. Ocean- 
ica as a Mission Field. 

Scripture Reading: The Islands in the Thought of God. Is. 51:4-6; 42:1-4. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the character of the 
people who inhabit the Pacific Islands, and the phenomenal success 
which has attended missionary work among them. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Island Groups and their People. The term Oceanica 
will be used in this lesson to include all the Pacific islands south of 
the tropic of Cancer. Geographers group these islands variously, but 
it will be convenient for our purpose to adopt the division which recog- 
nizes four distinct groups, viz.: (i) Malaysia, including Sumatra, Java, 
Borneo, and the immediately surrounding islands to the west of New 
Guinea. (The Philippines, which properly constitute a part of 
Malaysia, will be treated separately at a later point in this course.) 
(2) Melanesia, " the islands of the blacks," made up of New Guinea 
and the Fiji group, with all the islands lying in between. In this group 
are the New Hebrides, (j) Micronesia, the many small islands lying 
in the western Pacific just north of the equator, the most important 
of which are the Ladrone, the Caroline, the Marshall, and the Gilbert 
islands. (4) Polynesia, made up of all the other islands not included 
in one of the above three groups. Hawaii and New Zealand are re- 
garded as belonging to Polynesia. Of these four main groups of islands 
the first is by far the largest, having a total land area equal to half the 
United States. On the other hand, the total area of the remaining 
three groups, exclusive of New Zealand, is only about that of Georgia. 

The inhabitants of the first of these groups, of the second, and of the 
third and fourth combined, present three sharply contrasting racial 
types, that sometimes overlap the geographical boundaries of the 



154 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

several groups of islands. The Malaysians are short, olive-skinned 
Mongolians with round heads, straight hair, beardless faces, and 
slightly oblique eyes. They are serious, sombre, morose, and cere- 
monious, yet cunning, revengeful and cruel. The Melanesians are tall, 
sooty-brown Ethiopians, with elongated heads, curly hair, frequently 
full-bearded, and straight eyes. They are lively, happy, boisterous, 
unceremonious and frank, yet on occasions revengeful and cruel. 
The natives of the rest of Oceanica, generally known as Polynesians, 
are characterized by similarities in feature, language, and customs, 
which are quite remarkable in view of their wide dispersion and isola- 
tion. They are a dark, copper-colored race, well-built, handsome, 
ceremonious, and much given to high-sounding titles. 

Note 3. Religious and Social Status of the Malaysians. The greater 
part of Malaysia constitutes the magnificent possession of Holland 
known as the Dutch East Indies, sometimes called Netherlands- India. 
The government makes little or no effort to introduce European social 
and ethical ideals. This fact explains much concerning the religious 
and social status of the Malaysians. The inherited faith of the greater 
number of them is Mohammedanism, and this religion is still gaining 
ground. Moslem zeal is kept alive by pilgrimages to Mecca — a journey 
made annually by more than ten thousand Malaysians. The islanders, 
however, do not seem able to rid themselves of their original poly- 
theistic conceptions, and hence the most monotheistic of faiths has 
here been practically reduced to a polytheistic cult. The Malaysian 
Mohammedan prays to Joseph and sacrifices before him that he may 
have beautiful children; he makes his offerings to Moses for bravery; 
to Solomon for high position and great honor, to Jesus for wisdom and 
learning. Besides Mohammedanism, a composite cult made up of 
primitive animism, ancestor worship, fetichism, and certain Buddhist 
and Hindu elements, prevails and is practised by many. That Hindu- 
ism was once the leading faith is indicated by the ruins of once gorgeous 
Hindu temples. 

The social condition of the Malaysian, which at its best does not rise 
above his low religious ideals, is generally lowered by the natural effect 
of a torrid climate. Moreover, the advent of the white man has not 
been morally advantageous, although on the whole Malaysians are 
more civilized to-day than formerly. Notwithstanding the pro- 
hibition of strong drink by Mohammedanism, the people are addicted 
to intemperance ; they are given over to gambling and opium smoking ; 
dishonesty and thieving are common, and immorality is not only un- 
checked but almost unheeded. Into this social disorder Christianity 
has entered, and is gradually fashioning a new and better order. 



TwerUy-four Among the Islands of the Sea 155 

Note 4. Missionary Work and its Difficulties in Malaysia. The 

mission churches of Malaysia are of two different types: (j) The 
undenominational Protestant church of the East Indies, in which the 
clergymen of the parishes are chosen by a committee in Holland, 
appointed by the government's minister of the colonies, and paid from 
the government treasury. This is a state-supported church, though, 
as will later appear, it does not represent the colonial government in 
any way. (2) The mission churches established by the independent 
missionary societies. The societies carrying on these churches are 
almost entirely Dutch societies. They have won remarkable successes 
as well among the lowest tribes as among the Mohammedans of Suma- 
tra and Java. 

Yet this success has been achieved in the face of strong opposition. 
The Dutch government from the beginning has been averse to any 
interference with native customs and the established faith. Only a 
few years ago, in a paper read at a missionary conference in Java, it 
was stated that the government expressly stipulates that " all native 
officials must be Mohammedans, and that if one of them were to be- 
come a Christian he would be at once removed from his post." In 
view of such regulations, Mohammedanism is closely associated with 
the government in the popular mind. Open-air preaching, missionary 
journeys into the country, and similar forms of activity are practically 
forbidden to Protestant missionaries, but the Mohammedan propa- 
gandists suffer no restrictions in their operations. In the island of Java 
alone there are twenty thousand Mohammedan schools, such as they 
are, and three hundred and twenty-five heathen Chinese schools. 
Nevertheless, Christianity to-day may boast a church membership of 
over half a million in Mohammedan Malaysia, and more than a thou- 
sand public and private educational institutions free from the anti- 
Christian influence of the Chinese and Mohammedan schools. More 
converts have been won from Mohammedanism in Malaysia than in 
any other mission field. 

Note 5. The Christian Church in Melanesia. In no other section 
of Oceanica does the story of the Christian church record more inspir- 
ing incidents, heroic sacrifices, and hair-breadth escapes from mur- 
derous savages, and such truly marvelous conversions of whole com- 
munities as in Melanesia. Frequently the natives, made suspicious by 
the maltreatment to which they were subjected by unscrupulous 
traders, became embittered against the missionaries and treacherously 
murdered them. It is difficult to condemn these savages for their ill- 
conceived methods of self-defense, when we know of some of the dia- 
bolical plots carried out by the traders. In one instance a sea captain 



156 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

landed four of his men sick with measles at four different points in the 
New Hebrides, where John G. Paton was working, that they might go 
among the natives, to whom the disease is very deadly, and spread the 
contagion. To Paton' s remonstrance against such villainy the captain 
shamelessly responded, " We have sent the measles to humble them. 
That kills them by the score." The fiendish scheme succeeded, and 
thousands died of the epidemic which followed, The natives, now 
infuriated, drove Paton from the islands, and the conversion of the New 
Hebrides was put off indefinitely. Recently the interest in the islands 
has again been aroused, and the present prospect for Christianity is 
very encouraging. 

The story of the Fiji islanders is one of the most remarkable in mis- 
sionary annals. The conversion of practically the entire group of 
eighty islands took place within the lifetime of one missionary — the 
heroic James Calvert — who, shortly before his death, writing of his 
journey to the scenes of his earlier labors, observed that whereas in 
1835 there was not a single Christian, in 1886 there was not an avowed 
heathen in the eighty islands. He found thirteen hundred and 
twenty-two churches, more than eight hundred schools employing over 
twenty-six hundred teachers, and a regular church attendance of over 
ninety per cent of the entire population. It is such phenomenal 
victories of Christianity as this in the Fiji Islands that has made the 
proportion of church-goers to the entire population in the South Sea 
islands, exclusive of Malaysia, greater than in any other portion of the 
world. 

Note 6. Missionary Labors in Micronesia. The methods of mis- 
sionary work in Micronesia, and in the island world generally, except- 
ing Malaysia, are unique. Because the islands are so numerous and 
scattered, missionary vessels are used in touring among them during 
the healthful season. Some fairly central island of a given group is 
selected as the missionary headquarters. Here is located a training 
school for the native young men and women whom the mission ship 
may gather in its rounds about the islands. When these picked con- 
verts have received their training they are returned to their homes 
accompanied by the missionary who, after seeing them established in 
their respective fields, leaves them to solve alone the problems which con- 
front them. In this way a strong native ministry of unusual resource- 
fulness is developed. The martyrdom which many of the early 
native missionaries suffered inspired new converts to real heroism, so 
that frequently where one missionary fell, anywhere from five to 
twenty-five stood ready to fill his place. The churches which have 



Twenty-four 



Among the Islands of the Sea 



157 




1..-: -: : . -■ 

Native Church 



Butaritari, Gilbert Islands, Micronesia. 



grown out of such splendid Christian courage are almost wholly self- 
supporting, and are themselves strong missionary churches. 

Most of the work in Micronesia is carried on by the American Board 
of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions 
which began its work 
among these islands 
in 1856. To-day, be- 
sides the training 
schools conducted by 
the missionaries, 
there are in Micro- 
nesia, not counting 
the work in the La- 
drone islands, over 
one hundred and twenty schools taught by the natives with more than 
six thousand pupils, and a church membership of about six thousand per- 
sons who contributed almost ten thousand dollars to the work during 
1908. A missionary in the Gilbert Islands writes that scarcely a week 
goes by without ten or twelve conversions, while the supply of Bibles 
is wholly inadequate to meet the Christian demand. 

Note 7. Polynesian Missions and their Fruits. Polynesian mis- 
sions were instituted in 1797 when the Duff arrived at Tahiti with a 
party of thirty missionaries. Few of the earliest of the missionaries 
sent to these islands were made of the sturdy stuff necessary for the 
dangerous pioneering required, and the work consequently made but 
little progress during the earlier years. At last, however, a signal 
victory was won when, in 1815, practically the entire island came over 
to Christianity. All the idols were removed from their accustomed 
places, the temples were torn down, churches built in their stead, and 
Christian worship became universal in Tahiti and Eimeo. From these 
islands it speedily spread to others of the group. 

In Hawaii, a yet more striking development of Christianity took 
place. A few years after the Christian victory in Tahiti, the Hawaiians 
wearied of their idols, threw them away, tore down their temples, and 
were waiting for a new religion when in 1820 missionaries from the 
American Board arrived. Christianity thus had free scope from the 
beginning and spread rapidly. When a quarter of a century had 
passed, the laws, institutions and religious state of the islands were 
as decidedly Christian as in many of the most advanced nations of the 
world. In 1873 the Christian churches of Hawaii became independent, 
had a membership of over fifteen thousand, and besides meeting all 



158 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

home expenses, devoted one fifth of the total contributions to foreign 
missions. 

By reason of its striking interest, its uniqueness, its variety and its 
successes the missionary work of Oceanica is one of the most delightful 
of studies. Only in the sense that all the world is a mission field can 
we any longer regard Oceanica as a proper sphere for foreign missions. 
Many of the communities are more Christian than Boston, New York, 
Philadelphia, or Chicago. Much still remains to be done, however, 
though here, as in no other field, the conquering Christ has won the 
hearts and minds of savage men, and given to His church an earnest 
of what shall be when " the earth shall be filled with the knowledge 
of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea." 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) A good view of the island world. Alexander, The Islands of the 
Pacific. (2) Early work among the Melanesians. Yonge, Life of 
Bishop Patteson, 2 vols. (3) Autobiography of John G. Paton; or 
Life of James Calvert, by Vernon. (4) A study in the social evolution 
of a people. Blackman, Making of Hawaii. (5) Brief history of 
missions in Oceanica. Montgomery, Outline Study of the Island World 
of the Pacific. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What economic and social conditions prevail in Persia? 2. How 
do the Persians differ in religion from the Mohammedans of Turkey? 

3. What is the comparative importance of Persia as a mission field? 

4. In what way will the new movement in Persia probably affect 
Christian missions? 5. Where does the responsibility for the Chris- 
tianizing of Persia rest? 6. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? 
its object ? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Name and locate the four great island groups of the southern and 
central Pacific Ocean. (Note 2.) 



2. Describe the three races of people which inhabit these islands. 



3. What are the religious beliefs of the Malaysians? (Note 3.) 



Twenty -four Among the Islands of the Sea 159 

4. What are the social characteristics of these people? 



5. By what forces are the mission churches of Malaysia supported? 
(Note 4.) 



6. Whence comes the greatest opposition to Malaysian missions! 



7. Tell what you can of missionary work in the New Hebrides. 
(Note 5.) 



>. Who wrought in the Fiji Islands, and with what results? 



9. Describe the usual missionary method pursued in the island 
world. (Note 6.) 



10. What is the position of Christianity in Micronesia? 



11. When was the first effort made to convert the Tahiti island- 
ers? What success followed later? (Note 7.) 



12. What finished work of foreign missions has been wrought in 
Hawaii ? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What would the remarkable conversions among the South Sea 
islanders suggest as to the capacity of all men for moral and religious 



160 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



2. Notwithstanding the practical inability of these island- 
ers to influence other large portions of the race for Christ, do you regard 
the work that has been done among them as a paying investment of 
Christian money and Christian lives ? Why? 3. What is the church's 
responsibility still with regard to these fields? 4. What do the 
victories gained in the South Seas suggest as to the possibility of 
similar victories among other peoples? 5. Where is the real source of 
all missionary power? 

Mission Gem. " Those who deblaterate against missions have only 
one thing to do — to come and see them on the spot. Missions in the 
South Seas generally are by far the most pleasing result of the presence 
of white men, and those in Samoa are the best I have ever seen." — 
Robert Louis Stevenson. 

Personal Thought. The little far-away islands of the sea are not 

beyond the thought of God. Doubtless many an obscure heathen 
village possesses undreamed of potentialities for the kingdom, and 
these villages are also in the thought of God. When God's thoughts 
become the thoughts of His church, how speedily will these places hear 
the story of redemption ! And to whom belongs this responsibility? 



Lesson 25. EUROPEAN MISSION FIELDS. Religious Con- 
ditions in the Greek, Roman, and Protestant Sections. 

Scripture Reading: A Message Appropriate to Priest-ridden Countries. Is. ch. 55. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the necessity of missionary 
enterprise in Europe, the nature of the work now being carried on, 
and some of its difficulties, encouragements and successes. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Necessity of Missionary Work in Europe. Europe is 
nominally a Christian continent. In a population of about four 
hundred millions, over ninety per cent belong to the Greek, Roman, 
and Protestant churches. The remainder is made up of Jews, nine 
millions, to be studied in a later lesson; Mohammedans, eight millions, 
included for the most part in a previous lesson on Turkey; and 
" heathen," one million, a number so small, compared with the whole 
field, as to be practically negligible. These figures suggest at first 
glance that there is comparatively little need of missionary work in 
Europe. Several considerations show, however, that such a view 
has really no foundation. For centuries Europe has been a hotbed 
of ecclesiastical tyranny. Degenerate established churches, Protes- 
tant as well as Catholic, have worked hand in hand with prejudiced 
governments against independent religious thought, a popular knowl- 
edge of the Bible, the establishment of a regenerate church, and the 



Twenty-five European Mission Fields 161 

rearing of an enlightened and fearless clergy. It is estimated that 
more than one quarter of the population of Europe is without the Bible. 
Such a situation is obviously antagonistic to evangelical Christianity. 
Moreover, in such countries as Spain, Portugal, France, and Russia 
every encroachment of Protestantism is bitterly opposed by the Roman 
and Greek hierarchies. Besides all these antagonistic forces, Catholic 
and Protestant, a free-thought movement of large significance is 
making itself increasingly felt over the continent. While assuming 
different external forms, its temper is throughout fundamentally 
the same. Such forms are Italian and French. " modernism," the 
Austrian " los von Rom " (" separation from Rome ") movement, 
and the Russian and German socialist propaganda. The distinctions 
between them, however, are by no means clearly marked, and fre- 
quently the religious and political ideals of a party are so intermingled 
as to make it difficult to say whether the primary interest is religious 
or political. Thus in Germany at the present time the great majority 
of the socialists are anti-religious, as bitterly opposed to Protestantism 
as to Romanism. There is much evidence that in the larger liberty 
that has come to many Europeans within recent years, and in the 
larger production of a non-religious literature, many persons are 
finding it increasingly easy to dispense with religion. An oppressive 
priesthood and an unsatisfying formalism on the one hand, and an 
anti-religious propaganda on the other, are the foes which an evan- 
gelical Protestantism is facing in Europe to-day. 

Note 3. Protestant Mission Work in Russia. The Orthodox Greek 
church of Russia holds sway throughout the empire except in Poland, 
where the Roman Catholic church is supreme, and in the Caucasus, 
where most of the people are either Mohammedans or Gregorian 
Christians. For centuries the church and the state have been practi- 
cally different sides of the same despotism, so that hostility to the church 
became a crime against the state. As recently as 1905 the law mak- 
ing it a crime to leave the Greek Orthodox church and become a 
member of an evangelical body was in force. In that year, however, 
that statute was abrogated and evangelical bodies began to declare 
themselves all over the empire. In 1906 the Russian Evangelical 
Alliance was organized for the purpose of uniting all evangelical 
Christians in Russia in common work for their Master. Since that 
time the Protestant movement has spread with great rapidity. To- 
day, while religious toleration exists in theory, it scarcely exists in 
full fact, and religious liberty, as it is understood in America, is 
unknown. Nevertheless, the Protestant forces are already pushing 
forward with encouraging vigor. The immigrant Baptists, the native 



162 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Baptists (generally known as Stundists), and the Methodists are 
laying good foundations for much larger work in the future; already 
there are twelve evangelical churches drawing crowded audiences 
in the city of St. Petersburg alone; and two Protestant theological 
seminaries have been founded. 

In fields which are not readily open to aggressive evangelical preach- 
ing and established missionary institutions, the British and Foreign 
Bible Society carries on an important work in the sale and distribution 
of Bibles, Testaments, and portions of Scripture by colporteurs who 
travel thousands of miles on foot, visiting villages far from the beaten 
paths, and, by letting the Bible work its own conviction, prepare the 
people for the day when they shall be permitted to exercise a larger 
religious liberty. The results of this work are incalculable. In every 
oppressed country of Europe, the germs of a purer Christianity are 
secretly at work. The way is thus made ready for the coming of the 
missionary and preacher, and ultimately for an open expression of the 
Christian faith. 

Note 4. Work in Latin Countries. The countries in which the 
Roman church has until very recently exercised or is now exercising 
a predominant influence are Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Italy, 
and Austria-Hungary. In these countries the people, priest-ridden 
for years and without a Bible, are ignorant of any way of salvation 
except as they have been taught that strict compliance with the 
behests of the priests and the formal rites of the church are means to 
that end. Evangelical missionary work in these countries has con- 
sequently had as its chief object the preaching of Christ as the sole 
Saviour of men, and the spreading of a real knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures. In some fields the Protestant missionaries have distributed 
the Douay version (popularly known as the Catholic Bible), thereby 
reducing priestly hostility to the minimum, convinced that if only 
the Catholics could know what the Bible, even as translated by their 
own priests, teaches, it would be a great gain. At the same time, 
the Vatican Press has taken over the publication of the St. Jerome 
Society's Italian version and has struck off a large edition — some 
say half a million copies — of the gospels " for dissemination, more or 
less secret, by bishops and parish priests." In some quarters many 
a Catholic priest, and occasionally even a bishop, is found who en- 
courages his people to obtain Bibles. Recently in Spain a local 
priest, after endeavoring in vain to make his parishioners give up 
copies of the Scriptures which they had purchased, complained to his 
bishop. The bishop's reply, striking because so unusual, was: " Do 
not trouble to deprive your parishioners of the books bought from the 



Twenty-five European Mission Fields 163 

Protestants, for they will not find any unsound doctrine in them. 
Neither should you molest the vendors of such publications, for they 
are only doing their duty. See to it that you as faithfully fulfil 
yours." 

In general, however, it must be confessed that so far as the clergy 
control the state they use every means in their power to prevent the 
spread of an evangelical Christianity. In two of the provinces of 
Austria-Hungary, as in some other sections of Europe, Bible distribu- 
tion is positively forbidden by the government. Notwithstanding 
this hostility of the clergy, and sometimes of the state, the people of 
these Latin countries are glad and anxious to obtain the Bible, and 
respond warmly to evangelical preaching. The results thus far 
attained, and the attitude of the Vatican toward Bible distribution, 
afford much encouragement, but the people, for the most part, are 
so completely under the control of the priests, and the priestly hostility 
to evangelicalism is generally so bitter, that the work moves on with 
difficulty. The American missionary interests in Latin Europe are 
represented in the limited work of the Congregationalists and Baptists, 
and in the more extensive operations of the Methodists. 

Note 5. Christianity in Protestant Europe. In those European 
countries which have not yet been mentioned, Protestantism is the 
established faith. Accordingly every child is by birth a member of the 
church, as he is of the state, and remains so, whatever his moral 
character, until he dies, or renounces his allegiance either personally 
or through his parents. Membership in these churches, therefore, 
is in no sense dependent on personal religious convictions. The clergy 
are state officials, and too often men of worldly and rationalistic 
temper, bitterly hostile to evangelical preaching. Under these cir- 
cumstances it will be seen that most of the Protestant countries of the 
continent present fields for missionary work almost as pressing as 
lands not nominally Christian. In some sections evangelical preachers 
are still harassed by fines and imprisonments. Where mere toleration, 
but not religious liberty, prevails, seceders from the state church are 
subjected to vexatious political disabilities and unjust demands. 
In Finland representatives of the established Lutheran church recently 
invoked the aid of the civil authorities to compel members of Baptist 
churches to assist in supporting Lutheran priests. In Germany, 
according to the latest annual report of the Methodist Board, " the 
clergy of the state church denounce us as an obscure sect," and " cer- 
tain schoolmasters in the government schools threaten our children 
with severe punishment if they dare to visit our schools." The col- 
porteur working in Posen was arrested four times within three months 



164 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



by the village authorities. " On two of these occasions he was 
liberated after some detention; on the other two occasions he climbed 
into freedom through a window." It is only fair to add that while 
much hostility to evangelical work is still to be expected even in nomi- 
nally Protestant countries, instances are not wanting all over Europe 
of public officials and ecclesiastics who heartily welcome evangelical 
Christian workers and give them sympathetic assistance. 

The most remarkable growth of evangelical religion in Europe 
has been witnessed in Sweden, where a native Baptist movement 
appeared about the middle of the last century. As it extended the 

persecution experi- 
enced by the early con- 
verts gradually gave 
way to toleration, and 
finally to practical re- 
ligious liberty. The 
Baptist churches alone 
number nearly six hun- 
dred, with about fifty 
thousand members, and 
the growth of other 
evangelical bodies has 
been powerfully stimu- 
lated. The Baptist 
growth in Germany has 
been almost as phenomenal. Important work has also been done by 
the Methodists in several European countries. Fully as significant, 
however, as the spread of particular denominations is the vitalizing 
reaction on the established Protestant churches. These churches, for 
centuries characterized by spiritual deadness and empty formalism, 
are now beginning to perceive and to emphasize the need of a living 
Christianity. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(r) Liberty of conscience in Russia. Latimer: Under Three 
Tsars. (2) Protestant missionary work in Roman Catholic countries 
of Europe. Clark: The Gospel in Latin Lands, pp. 1-176. (3) 
Colporteur work throughout European countries. The latest Annual 
Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society. {4) Socialism, 
agnosticism, and infidelity in Europe. Refer to recent magazine in- 
dexes and examine some of the late numbers of the Missionary Review 
of the World. 




Baptist Church at Sundsvall, Sweden. 

This is the largest Swedish Baptist church in the world. 



Twerdy-uve European Mission Fields 165 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What four groups of islands did we study in our last lesson? 
2. What success has attended the efforts put forth in behalf of these 
islands? 3. Describe the general method of work among the islanders. 
4. Is there any further need of missionary work for these people? 
Why? 5. Why do you regard these island missions as important? 
6. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Describe the religious situation in Europe. (Note 2.) 

2. In what ways is the free-thought movement expressing itself? 



3. What is the state church of Russia? (Note 3.) 



4. Sketch the recent development of evangelicalism in Russia. 

5. How far is religious liberty a fact in Russia? 



6. In what way does the British and Foreign Bible Society help in 
the dissemination of an evangelical Christianity? 



7. In the Latin countries what conception of the way of salvation 
do the people commonly hold? (Note 4.) 



8. What is the attitude of the priests and bishops in these countries? 



9. Tell how missionary work is hampered in some sections. 

10. Justify the evangelical work carried on by mission boards in 
some of the Protestant countries of Europe. (Note 5.) 



166 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

11. What are some of the difficulties with which workers in these 
countries have to contend? 



12. What denominations carry on the bulk of the American mis- 
sionary interests in Europe? In what Protestant countries has their 
work met with marked success? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Discuss the relation of agnosticism and positive unbelief, now 
largely prevalent in Europe, to the greater religious liberty that has 
followed the separation of church and state. Does the separation of 
church and state tend to the development of an anti-religious spirit? 
2. What is there about the Bible itself which makes its mere distribu- 
tion so important a factor in the development of an evangelical 
temper? 3. What does the situation in Catholic countries of Europe 
suggest as to the possibility of there being a reformed Catholic church ? 
4. Do you regard Europe as a foreign missionary field in the same 
sense as you regard Asia as such? If not, what is the difference? 

Mission Gem. " Results may be thought small compared with 
effort and outlay, but the seed has been sown and the harvest time will 
come." — Sir Robert Hart. 

Personal Thought. Thousands of nominal Christians are totally 
ignorant of a spiritual life in harmony with the will of the heavenly 
Father. Am I content to call myself a Christian, and let others so 
regard me, while at the same time I am conscious that my inner life 
is not right before Him? God forbid that I attempt to substitute 
a name, a formal rite, an empty profession for a pure and upright life. 



Lesson 26. CHRISTIANITY IN THE EASTERN HEMI- 
SPHERE. A Review of Asiatic and European Missions. 

Scripture Reading: Him whom the Nations Seek. Is. 11:1-10. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To summarize the outstanding 
features of the foregoing studies of mission fields, and to draw certain 
deductions therefrom in regard to the state of the non-Christian 
faiths, the obligation of Christianity to the non- Christian world, and 
the urgency of the religious situation throughout the East. 



Twenty-six Christianity in the Eastern Hemisphere 167 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Summary of Lessons 14 to 25. The study of mission 
fields pursued thus far shows the entire eastern hemisphere under 
religious cultivation by the Christian church. In Africa, Assam, 
Korea and Oceanica the religious forces with which Christianity 
contends are for the most part unorganized; in India, China, Burma, 
and the Mohammedan world, on the other hand, the religions are well 
organized institutions, possessing a strong religious literature and 
constituting a massive wall against which the operations of Christianity 
are being carried on with slow but telling effect. 

Into these dark fields the forces of Christianity have brought the 
agencies of light and life. The day schools, academies, colleges, 
theological seminaries, medical and technical schools have prepared 
the way for a new, a better, a more progressive social order; the 
hospitals, famine relief stations, orphanages, leper asylums and kindred 
institutions have placed a new valuation upon human life and ex- 
emplified a type of charity and brotherly love distinctively Christian; 
while the. Gospel, the church and the Sunday school have recast and 
elevated the moral and spiritual ideals of every community into 
which they have gone. 

The methods of the missionaries vary with the varying conditions 
which prevail in the several fields. Schools have been needed as an 
entering wedge in almost every field except Korea and Oceanica. 
Nevertheless, in these countries schools have not been wholly neglected, 
and now that the people are awake to their needs, education is becom- 
ing an increasingly important auxiliary to evangelization. In other 
fields, such as Japan and possibly China, educational work is a decreas- 
ingly effective auxiliary to evangelization and, in view of the excellence 
of the government schools, will remain so unless the Christian schools 
are provided with funds sufficient to maintain their supremacy over 
the state institutions. Medical work has been of incalculable value 
in the introduction of Christianity into China, Korea, and Japan, 
and promises to be especially so throughout the Mohammedan world. 
But wherever the missionaries have gone their preaching of the gospel 
of a new life in Christ has been their supreme concern, and their 
services, whether educational, medical or evangelical, have ever 
aimed to exemplify that same good news. 

Note 3. State of the Non-Christian Faiths. The advent of Chris- 
tianity in the Orient, and its consequent conflict with the religions 
of the East, has had a threefold result, viz. : the adoption of Christian 
truths and practices by the Oriental religions, the emphasis by them 



168 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

of such truths as they hold in common with Christianity, and the 
emphasis by Christianity upon the distinctions between itself and the 
Oriental faiths. 

The adoption of Christian truths and practices is most prevalent 
among the Hindus, Buddhists, and Mohammedans. The leaders of 
each of these religions have instituted a fresh propaganda of their 
faith. Hinduism among the educated has adopted, much of the 
Christian mode of worship, the use of hymns and preaching; Buddhism 
has established Young Men's Buddhist Associations, Buddhist En- 
deavor Societies, and a Buddhist Tract Society with a brilliant and 
finely educated gentleman, who writes virile English and styles himself 

Rev.," as its president; and Mohammedanism is carrying on a wide 
distribution of Moslem literature ably edited and, from the Moslem 
point of view, exceedingly pertinent to the issue. 

Emphasis upon truths common to Christianity and Eastern faiths 
is increasing among the Hindus, the Japanese, and the Mohammedans. 
Among the Hindus the ideas of a supreme deity, of a spiritual union 
between the individual and the overruling spirit, and of the brother- 
hood of man, all receive a new emphasis since the advent of Christianity 
into the Orient. The Japanese conception of patriotism as an element 
of the religious life finds a parallel in the Pauline injunctions as to 
Christian loyalty to constituted authority. The Mohammedans by 
their teachings concerning temperance, prayer, and the supremacy 
of Jehovah, are on common ground with Christianity. 

Certain differences between Christianity and the Oriental faiths 
have come into prominence through the contact of the missionaries 
with the Orientals. The most conspicuous of these is the practice 
of idolatry, common in some form or other throughout all the fields 
which we have studied, with the single exception of the Mohammedan 
world. Another difference is the development in most of these faiths 
of grossly sensual practices as a phase of the religious life. The 
social evils resulting from this tendency we have noted as particularly 
prevalent in Africa, India, Japan, the Mohammedan world, and 
Oceanica. Numerous other differences might be noted, but it will 
suffice to indicate the supreme contrast between the non- Christian 
faiths and Christianity, viz., the Gospel of the personal Redeemer. 
No other religion has a founder comparable with Christ. 

Note 4. The Obligation of Christianity to the Non-Christian World. 
In view of the activity which is now going on within the Oriental 
faiths, we cannot doubt that Christianity is making a deep impression 
pn the Orient. And yet, as compared with the vast multitudes 
untouched, by the Gospel, the progress made so far is relatively very 



Twenty-six Christianity in the Eastern Hemisphere 169 

small. In the localities where Christian work has been established, 
the entire community has felt its influence, and in many cases has been 
wholly transformed. But only a handful of cities and towns have 
thus far been occupied, and the present forces are so pitiably inade- 
quate that were it not for the church's faith in the power of its Lord 
the herculean task would have been abandoned long ago. The fact 
that so small a Christian force has accomplished such far-reaching 
results in the comparatively short period during which foreign missions 
have been prosecuted is an assurance of Christianity's ultimate 
triumph in those distant lands. 

The political, social, and religious conditions prevailing throughout 
the fields which we have studied all invite the church to an effort 
commensurate with the gigantic task of the world's evangelization. 
If one's personal acceptance of Christ carries with it obligation to 
one's fellows, then the church's possession of Christ puts the church 
under obligation to a Christless world. The day is now here when 
a fresh sense of responsibility must lay hold of the Christian church 
and lead it out into vaster fields of service. 

Note 5. Urgency of the Situation. In a number of the lessons 
reference has been made to the urgency of the situation. Now has 
repeatedly been the emphatic word. Possibly the reader has been 
wearied with the reiterated statement that to-day is the time of oppor- 
tunity, and that with its passing the opportunities accompanying it 
will likewise cease. And the question arises whether to-morrow will 
not offer better opportunities than to-day to the Christian church? 
Will procrastination make the task easier? The brief history of 
missions furnishes sufficient answer to such queries. An observant 
student, viewing the situation in Malaysia, refers to the hostility of 
the Dutch government and cites the destruction of Herr Bruckner's 
translation of the Malaysian New Testament. " All this," runs the 
comment, " is past, but so also is the opportunity for the moral and 
intellectual improvement of the natives." As a result, Christianity 
is waging a vastly more difficult battle for the conquest of Malaysia 
than would have been necessary a hundred or a hundred and fifty 
years ago. In Japan a similar experience has been forced upon the 
missionary interests. Twenty to twenty- five years ago missionaries 
in that country were sending out strong appeals to the home churches 
coupled with the warning that failure to respond would put off the 
Christianizing of Japan indefinitely. The church did not respond, 
and as a consequence the battle in Japan — it will do no good to hide 
the fact — has gone against the Christian church. The reactionary 
decade of 1890-1900 justified the predictions of those who had spoken 



170 The Conquering Christ 

from the firing line. Prior to 1890 the Protestant churches had been 
doubling their membership every three years. But from 1891 to 
1902 the Presbyterians increased from 10,961 to 11,651, while in the 
same period the Congregational churches of the Sendai field relapsed 
from a membership of 407 to 325. There are psychological moments 
in the development of nations, and it is the part of wise Christian 
statesmanship to make a study of such opportune moments and 
make the utmost of them. To-day is recognized by competent 
judges as just such a moment, and the need of the hour is to bring the 
whole Christian church to a like recognition of the situation. 

Suggestions for Class Discussion. 

1. To what extent the eastern hemisphere has felt the impact of 
Christianity. 

2. Whether the missionaries encounter greater difficulty in dealing 
with the unorganized or with the organized religions. 

3. What the relative value is of the educational, medical, and char- 
itable work in missions. 

4. To what extent the adoption of Christian truths and practices 
by adherents of non-Christian faiths will make the work of Christian 
missions more difficult. To what extent easier. 

5. Whether the renewal of activity by Oriental religions will mate- 
rially lengthen their lease of life. 

6. How the element of a personal Redeemer makes the Christian 
faith superior to the cults of the East. 

7. By what means and in what manner Christianity endeavors to 
influence political, social, and economic conditions in the Orient. 

8. Whether the church has any missionary obligation apart from 
that of every church member. 

9. How procrastination in the missionary enterprise would doubt- 
less affect the problem. 

Mission Gem. " Light has been thrown on Oriental thought, and 
the East moves inquiringly toward Christ." — Charles Cuthbert Hall. 

Personal Thought. In the great missionary movement of the church, 
God Himself is the Leader. Shall I not join Him in the thickest of 
the fight? 

" He hath sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; 
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat; 
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him ! be jubilant, my feet ! 
Our God is marching on I" 






PART II 
Modern Progress of Christianity (Continued) 



Lesson 27. PROTESTANTISM IN SOUTH AMERICA. 
Complex Conditions affecting Missionary Work. 

Scripture Reading: Condemnation of Formalism in Religion. Is. 1: 10-18. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show how the natural resources 
of the continent invite development, and how prevailing social con- 
ditions demand an improved moral and religious order. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Natural Features of South America. Probably no one 
term is more descriptive of the continent than the single word " vast," 
for it is characterized by vast mountains, vast plains, vast rivers, 
vast forests, and vast mineral and vegetable wealth. Even in the 
matter of area this observation holds true, for, while South America 
is smaller than North America in total number of square miles, the 
two continents are about equal in the matter of productive area, 
much of the northern part of North America being wholly unpro- 
ductive. As to the mountains, the great Andean range stretches its 
huge length, like some colossal serpent, 4,400 miles along the west 
coast. Ice-crested peaks, many of them towering more than twenty 
thousand feet above sea-level, crown this highest mountain range 
of the western hemisphere, while Aconcagua, the highest of them all, 
lifts its hoary head 23,000 feet into the blue. The importance of 
this range is apparent since it determines the climate of almost the 
whole continent, determines the three great river basins, has largely 
determined the political history of the country, and is proving an im- 
mense factor in its economic development. Aside from the Andean 
range, mountains of lesser importance are found in the extreme north 
and also in the eastern part of Brazil. 

Although South America boasts a remarkable mountain formation, 
the greater part of its area, unlike the plateau continent of Africa, is 
given over to vast plains. The two greatest of these are known as the 
selvas of the Amazon in the northern half of Brazil that stretch over a 
thousand miles from the Andes to the Atlantic, and the pampas of 
Argentina, less extensive than the selvas, but possibly of greater value 
because of a better climate. 

171 



172 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Again, in the matter of rivers, South America, in the Amazon, 
La Plata and Orinoco, can boast as fine a system of interior waterways 
as any continent. The first of these, though not the longest in the 
world, drains the largest river basin, and with its affluent streams 
has over fifty thousand miles of navigable waters. Its great length 
is suggested by the fact that it almost cuts the continent in two, 
some of its head waters lying within a hundred miles of the Pacific 
coast. A United States gunboat has steamed 2,400 miles up the 
river to the city of Iquitos in eastern Peru. As compared with the 
Mississippi, it drains a basin almost twice as large, and discharges a vol- 
ume of water more than twice as great. The La Plata, whose affluent 
streams reach five countries, is scarcely less remarkable than the 
Amazon. It, too, discharges more water than the Mississippi, and 
ocean steamers may ascend the stream a thousand miles above Buenos 
Aires. The Orinoco is 1,450 miles long, and with its tributaries has 
a long stretch of navigable waters. 

The forests of South America are notable for their variety of useful 
and beautiful woods, supplying a large part of the world's demand 
for mahogany, rosewood, and logwood. These practically inex- 
haustible virgin growths are found principally in the region south of 
the Orinoco and in the south central portion of Brazil. Valuable 
rubber trees are found in various sections. 

Finally, in the matter of minerals, South America is almost fab- 
ulously wealthy. Gold is found in every country, and silver, copper, 
and tin exist in abundance. As yet these immense resources of the 
continent have scarcely been touched. The wealth and latent pro- 
ductivity of South America is so great that it has been estimated 
that Brazil alone " could hold and support the entire population of 
the world and hundreds of millions more." The continent is destined 
to be one of the most important theaters of human action in the future 
development of the world. 

Note 3. Political Factors and Missionary Problems. The evan- 
gelization of South America has heretofore been largely related to the 
political conditions prevailing in the various countries. Since the 
Roman Catholic church has long controlled most of the governments, 
Protestant missionaries have had to work without official protection 
and in some cases under governments actually hostile. Only gradually 
have the various governments opened the doors of entrance to others 
than Romanists. Recently, however, there has been a marked change 
in favor of Protestantism. Most of the governments are endeavoring 
to free themselves from ecclesiastical control and in some instances 
have taken radical measures to this end. This is the case in Bolivia, 



Tiventy-seven Protestantism in South America 173 

a country which has stood for years as the stronghold of Catholicism 
in South America. A few years ago this inland republic admitted 
a few Protestant missionaries, but stipulated that their work must 
be limited to the establishment of educational institutions. Very 
recently this strict limitation has been removed, and, as if in recogni- 
tion of the superiority of Protestantism over Romanism, a law has 
been passed closing all the Catholic cloisters and convents, and strictly 
forbidding the consecration of monks or nuns within the country. 
Moreover, monks and nuns are forbidden to enter the country, and 
all the property of the Catholic church, valued at about seventy- 
eight million dollars, has been confiscated by the state, — a situation 
which recalls the confiscation of the monasteries in England under 
Henry VIII. This change, which gives to Protestants full liberty 
to preach the Gospel, is much more radical than has occurred in other 
South American countries, but it is suggestive of the larger liberties 
which are beginning to open the continent to the work of individual 
and social redemption. On the other hand, some countries, such as 
Venezuela, Paraguay and Uruguay, are so riven by internal strife 
and turmoil as to make the conduct of missionary work either exceed- 
ingly difficult or practically impossible. 

Note 4. The Bearing of Economic and Social Conditions. The 
missionary problem of South America is closely related to the prevail- 
ing economic and social conditions. The economic development 
has only just begun, and, like all such movements in their infancy, 
has speedily brought about a condition at once complex and chaotic. 
A polyglot population is pouring into Argentina to take advantage of 
the unlimited areas of wheat and pasture land. English capitalists 
are pushing the construction of railroads as rapidly as the develop- 
ment of the country will permit, and already the transandine tunnel 
is nearing completion. This remarkable engineering feat, which is 
expected to be finished during the summer of 1910, will enable the 
traveler to go from Buenos Aires on the Atlantic to Valparaiso or 
Santiago on the Pacific in forty-eight hours and without change of 
cars. With intercommunication thus established among all the 
southern republics — for the railroads which radiate from the seaport 
of Buenos Aires stretch over the adjacent country like the fingers of 
a hand — the possible economic development is beyond computation. 
In these countries so fraught with possibilities, there is sad need for the 
establishment of such institutions as shall guide aright the thought, 
the aspirations, and the conduct of the people. At present, although 
almost every country supports a state university, there is great dearth 
of education; a healthy moral sense is wanting and there is an entire 



174 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



lack of spiritual life. Mr. Robert E. Speer has recently (1910) returned 
from a tour of investigation undertaken for the express purpose of 
studying the continent as missionary territory. His reports indicate 
great degradation on the part of the people and great opportunity 
for the Christian churches of North America. In some of the countries 
which he visited fifty per cent of the people were illiterate, in others 
the percentage was as high as eighty-five. One fourth to one half 
of all the people are shown by the official reports to be born out of 
wedlock, and unofficial estimates place the figure still higher. The 
Catholic church exercises little or no helpful and invigorating in- 
fluence. These facts show the sore need of South America for what 
the Protestant churches of North America can give. 

Note 5. Protestant Forces and what they are Doing. The great 
bulk of missionary work in South America is carried on by over twenty 
North American organizations, though of this work the Methodists 
and Presbyterians sustain more than half. Mission stations are now 
firmly established in every country, but are meeting with widely 
varying fortunes. The field reports from Chili are full of courage, 
buoyancy, and notes of victory, with only occasional references to 
the difficulties. On the other hand, the reports from Brazil and 
Argentina are less buoyant, though full of hope, while messages 
from Paraguay, Columbia and other fields tell of opposition, bitter 

antagonisms, difficul- 
ties due to revo- 
lutionary conditions 
within the country, 
and even of an in- 
difference due to a 
socialistic propaganda 
similar to that in 
southern Europe. 
Despite these dis- 
couraging features, 
the work of founda- 
tion, laying, so much 
of which must nec- 
essarily remain out 
Memorial Chapel at Santa Barbara, Brazil. of sight> gQes steadily 

forward. Methodists are carrying on educational work in Panama, 
Peru, Bolivia, Chili, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. At Con- 
cepcion, Chili, they have established the Colegio Americano, and 
have just completed its new building at a cost of over $50,000, 




Twenty- seven Protestantism in South America . 175 

placing it in the front rank of institutions of higher learning in 
South America. In speaking of educational work mention should 
be made of Mackenzie College, Sao Paulo, Brazil, partially sup- 
ported by the Presbyterians, " the only institution of higher edu- 
cation, Protestant or Roman Catholic, in all Brazil, wholly in- 
dependent of government supervision or patronage." Practically 
no medical work has been established in connection with South 
American missions, but the colportage work of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society and the American Bible Society has been an important 
factor in preparing the fields for permanent occupation. In the 
purely evangelical work the efforts of the various mission boards are 
efficiently supplemented by the Young Men's and the Young Women's 
Christian Associations. In the city of Buenos Aires, noted for the 
low moral and material condition of its women, the latter organiza- 
tion has, within four years, developed a notable work. Through the 
agencies of a boarding department, down-town lunch-rooms, and 
classes for instruction in languages and industrial pursuits, the As- 
sociation is able to do a large evangelistic work. At the same time 
it does a scarcely less important work of a preventive nature in saving 
the girls and young women of the city from the thousand pitfalls and 
snares laid for them in every quarter. The membership numbers 
over five hundred. The Young Men's Christian Association carries 
on its characteristic work in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Buenos 
Aires, Sao Paulo, Pernambuco, Montevideo and Santiago, and has a 
total membership of over three thousand gathered chiefly from student 
circles and from the younger men of the political and commercial 
classes. 

To sum up the missionary situation in South America — the country 
faces a future of remarkable development; the social, moral, and 
religious condition of the continent is far below the level of most 
countries known as civilized; the people literally yearn for education 
and a pure religion; active governmental opposition is disappearing, 
and the doors of opportunity are wide open before the Christian 
churches of North America. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) History of the republics of South America. Dawson: South 
American Republics, 2 vols. (2) Protestant missionary work in the 
continent. Beach: Protestant Missions in South America. (3) 
Brief sketch of present-day life in the South American countries. 
Clark: The Gospel in Latin Lands, chs. 5, 6. (4) Present problems 
and the outlook for the future. Neely: South America, chs. 7, 8. 



176 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. The last thirteen lessons have dealt with what portion of the 
world? 2. Characterize the present conditions in the Far East as 
these are related to Protestant missions. 3. What are the oppor- 
tunities for Christianity in the Mohammedan world? 4. What is the 
immediate aim of the foreign mission enterprise? 5. Are Protestant 
missions in Europe justifiable? Why? 6. What is the general 
scope of the next twelve lessons? 7. State the subject of the present 
lesson; its object. 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What single term aptly describes the continent of South America? 
(Note 2.) 



2/ In what five respects is this term appropriate? 



3. What bearing have the mountains, plains, rivers, forests, and 
mineral and vegetable wealth upon the mission problem ? 



4. What is the attitude of the various governments toward missions ? 
(Note 3.) 



5. In Bolivia, how has the state law recently been modified in 
favor of Protestantism? 



6. To what extent has the economic development of the country 
proceeded? (Note 4.) 



7. How will the extension of railroads in the southern parts and 
the tide of immigration into Argentina, affect the mission problem? 



Twenty-seven Protestantism in South America 177 

8. What is the condition of education, morals, and religion? 



9. What has been the influence of the Roman Catholic church upon 
the lives of the people? 



10. About how many North American organizations are carrying 
on mission work in South America? (Note 5.) 



11. What two denominations sustain the larger part of the work? 



12. What general impression of the situation does one gather from 
the field reports? 



13. Tell what you can of the work of the Young Women's Christian 
Association and of the Young Men's Christian Association. 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Compare South America with Africa as a mission field. 2. In 
which would you prefer to work? Why? 3. How do the mission 
problems of South America compare with the home mission problems 
of North America? 4. Is Christian education as important as evan- 
gelization in South America? 5. What encouraging features of the 
situation in South America can you mention? 

Mission Gem. " The magnificent privilege of life is to take part in 
this work and do it with our might, and do it unto the end." — Richard 
Salter Storrs. 

Personal Thought. Already these studies have taken up the situa- 
tion of Christianity in three continents. To-day's lesson considers a 
fourth continent where the needs and opportunities seem no less 
pressing than in other fields previously reviewed. The evangelization 
of the world is possibly a larger task than I have thought. The burden 
and the responsibility which Christ has placed upon His church is, 
after all, tremendous, and part of it rests upon me. 



178 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Lesson 28. IN THE LAND OF THE AZTECS. Gospel 

Opportunities in Mexico. 

Scripture Reading: The Primacy of the Kingdom. Mt. 6:19-33. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To outline the situation in Mexico 
with special reference to the material and political conditions, and to 
the present state and future prospects of Christianity. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Physical and Material Characteristics of the Country. 

The area of Mexico, including Lower California on the extreme west 
and the peninsula of Yucatan on the extreme east, is about equal to 
the United States east of the Mississippi. The entire country is a 
region of mountain elevations, including a large number of volcanoes, 
mostly extinct. What were once the valleys of the interior mountain 
region have long since been filled in with volcanic material, thus 
leveling the region and creating a plateau from six to eight thousand 
feet in height through the undulating surface of which " the buried 
mountains protrude their summit peaks." While the country lacks 
any rivers or lakes of importance, a long rainy season and a copious 
rainfall insures a luxuriant vegetation in the low-lying tracts and along 
the basal declivities of the mountains. Rubber trees, rosewood, 
mahogany, evergreen oaks, pine, spruce and fir may be mentioned 
among the forest products, while among the cultivated products 
should be mentioned sugar, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, oranges, bananas, 
pomegranates, and pineapples. Rich, however, as Mexico is in her 
virgin forests, her chief riches lie in her almost unlimited mineral 
resources. It is estimated that the annual yield of her silver mines 
alone is in the neighborhood of $60,000,000 (United States), while 
the gold output reaches $5,000,000. Besides the precious metals, 
copper, lead, iron and mercury are found in abundance. 

In respect to wide extremes in climate, amplitude of resources, 
and backward development, Mexico is much like South America. 
The city of Mexico is unique. It is beautifully situated at an elevation 
of over 7,000 feet above sea-level, and in the variety of its life is said 
to combine " the sumptuousness of a little Paris with the beggardom 
of Naples." The city is well laid out in the form of a square, three 
miles on each side, with all the principal thoroughfares converging at 
the central plaza. It is considerably larger than Washington, D. C, 
and of greater national importance, relatively, than the latter city. 
Its municipal drainage system is the greatest in the world, comprising 
a six-mile tunnel and a canal over forty miles long. The great cathe- 



Twenty-eight J n t fo e ]^ an ^ f t fo e Aztecs 179 

dral, facing upon the central square of fourteen acres, was until 
recently the largest and most magnificent church of America, though 
now it is surpassed by the cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York 
City. The walls of the building alone were erected at a cost exceeding 
$2,000,000. The city boasts the first printing press established in 
America, the first newspaper published on the continent, and the 
first school founded in the New World. Acapulco, the most beautiful 
Mexican port on the Pacific, possesses a harbor second for anchorage 
only to the Australian port of Sydney. 

Note 3. Political, Social and Economic Situation. The present 
period of Mexico's history began in 1867, when Maximilian lost his 
life in the concluding scene of the liberation of Mexico from French 
aggression. From that day to this the country has shown continuous 
progress in the arts of peace and the industries of civilization, which, 
while not unaccompanied by some evils, has nevertheless been un- 
paralleled in the history of any other Latin- American republic. The 
central government of the republic is exactly patterned after that of 
the United States, with the single exception that in place of the 
unwritten law against a presidential third term, the constitution was 
expressly amended in 1887 so as to make provision for unlimited 
re-election. This provision, coupled with the fact that many of 
the people, especially those of the peon class, are unable to appreciate 
the significance of a republican form of government, and in large 
measure are unfit to be entrusted with its control, has rendered easy 
the re-election of President Diaz ever since 1884, and the develop- 
ment of what is really a patriarchal government upon a republican 
basis. As President Diaz himself has recently described this anomalous 
condition of affairs: " We preserved the republican and democratic 
form of government. We defended the theory, and kept it intact. 
Yet we adopted a patriarchal policy in the administration of the 
nation's affairs, guiding and restraining popular tendencies." The 
last phrase is an exact description of what President Diaz has been 
doing for thirty years. He has not always exercised the best judg- 
ment, sometimes he has seemed to be heartlessly cruel, political agita- 
tion has always been permissible in theory but forbidden in fact, 
and the boasted liberties of the press have had to be exercised within 
narrow limits; socially, the peon class are still a subject people, many 
sections of the country are yet without schools and the agencies of 
intellectual, moral, or spiritual light, and it is not to be denied that 
few measures have been spared to keep the government under the 
direct control of Diaz. Yet after all this has been said it remains 
that President Diaz, now over eighty years of age, has never sought 



180 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



personal advantage through his position as chief magistrate, but 
has worked consistently for almost half his life for the prestige of 
his country. Under his administration he has witnessed the rise of 
a new and better generation of Mexican manhood, and in several 
financial and economic crises he has shown himself a notable states- 
man. A statement of the finances of the country for 1907-8 is sug- 
gestive of its prosperity. At the close of that fiscal year, the govern- 
ment accounts showed a balance of $9,297,200. The national debt 
was reduced during 1908 by $1,486,000, and during the first half of 
the year 1908-9, the value of exports exceeded imports by $18,178,100. 

As yet the industrial development of Mexico is in its infancy. 
Foreign capital has inaugurated and is at present sustaining the greater 
part of the industry of the country. The Mexican Central railroad 
was built by Boston capital, but subsequently bought up by the 
Mexican government; the great plains of eastern and central Mexico 
are given over to vast farms and ranches raising millions of cattle 
yearly, owned and operated by American capital; most industrial 
ventures, such as sugar refineries, smelters, electric light and power 
plants, and water-power developments, are financed by American 
money. At the present time about eight hundred million dollars of 
American capital are invested in Mexican industries. Only a few 
of the large enterprises are in the hands of Mexicans, though they 
all depend upon Mexican labor. Many of the men employed on the 
large plantations and in the gathering of rubber are held under a 
form of contract known as peonage. Under this system the peon, 
who is theoretically a free-born Mexican citizen, hires himself out to 
service, but the form of the peon contract is such that the system 
amounts practically to slavery. 

Intellectually, also, Mexico is in her infancy. The schools are 
wholly inadequate, and illiteracy is widespread. The census of 1900 
showed barely sixteen per cent who could read or write. Probably 
to-day fifty to seventy-five per cent of the people are illiterate. 

Note 4. Religious and Moral Conditions in Mexico. To under- 
stand the present religious and moral condition of the country it is 
necessary to know something of the break of the government with the 
church of Rome, and the causes leading up to it. The predominating 
influence of the Catholic church led it, in the early years of the Re- 
public, into the political arena. By its sympathies, partizanships, 
and agitation it became in a large measure responsible for the bloody 
internecine strife which almost cost the Republic its life. As early 
as 1859 Benito Juarez, " the liberator," took sharp issue with the 
church and its vested interests, and the government determined to 



Twenty-eight j n t fo e L an d f the Aztecs 181 

nationalize all church property and force a complete separation of 
church and state. The policy thus established, " the general principles 
of which are vitally interwoven with the prosperity of Mexico," has 
been persistently continued, and under President Diaz, who in his 
youth forsook the Jesuit seminary where he was studying for the 
priesthood, it has been carried to its logical conclusion. The govern- 
ment has found it expedient to prohibit Catholic parades, the per- 
formance of certain ecclesiastical ceremonies outside the church, and 
teaching in the public schools by nuns, brothers, or priests. 

Possibly it would not be unfair to illustrate the moral condition of 
Mexico by citation of an article which recently appeared in the Catholic 
Quarterly, written by an American priest who went to Mexico to 
investigate Catholic conditions there, and who intended that his article 
should be a thorough vindication of Mexican Catholicism. The 
writer selected the town of Orizaba, a strong Catholic center, " blessed 
with a band of zealous, untiring priests." Sunday morning he visited 
the central market of the town where all was trade and business, this 
being the great market day of the week, when people from the sur- 
rounding country come in with their goods both to sell and to buy. 
The writer described two services in the Catholic church as being 
attended by great throngs of men and women. In the afternoon 
the bullfight took place. This public amusement was scarcely con- 
demned — and the author of the article sought his afternoon's pleasure 
in attending it ! The Sunday evening was given up to public band 
concerts and light amusements of various sorts. This was a typical 
Sunday in an admittedly strong Catholic community, and if the 
visiting priest found little or nothing to condemn in it, is it to be 
expected that the resident priests, " zealous " and " untiring," should 
find aught to correct? The truth would seem to be that all Mexico 
is pleasure bent, poor and rich alike, and the moral conditions of 
the country are just such as grow out of a wide disregard for all that 
constitutes a pure religion or a healthy moral sense. 

Note 5. Protestant Mission Work in Mexico. The bulk of the 
Protestant mission work in Mexico is carried on by the Presbyterians 
and the Methodists. The work is conducted in a spirit of brother- 
hood between the several denominations, and in this regard affords 
a model of missionary co-operation. But as in most other Latin 
countries, the breach with Rome has been popularly represented by 
a widespread hostility to all that goes by the name of Christian. 
Hence the work of the missionaries is difficult, and the results appear 
slowly. To-day, however, there are about twenty societies operating 
in the country, carrying on their work among 750 congregations with 



182 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

a membership of between twenty and thirty thousand. The mis- 
sionary forces include three hundred missionaries and over six hundred 




Methodist Hospital, Monterey, Mes. 

In this institution 29,653 patients were treated during 1907-8. It is conducted by the Board of Missions 
of the M. E. Church (South). 

native helpers. Four hundred Sunday schools, and almost half as 
many day schools, present the open Bible to about twelve thousand 
children. It is estimated that the Protestant community numbers 
over a hundred thousand out of a population of fourteen million. 
In view of the fact that this community represents the- enlightened 
and progressive element, there can be no doubt that it will become 
an increasingly influential factor in the development of the country. 
The future of Mexican missions is just what the Christian churches 
of North America may decide to make it. The field has been well 
prepared both by the American Bible Society and by a successful 
period of foundation work on the part of the missionary organizations. 
At present, though the field is in many ways difficult, there are no 
barriers to the undertaking of a vastly larger work — except the lack 
of funds. In many ways Mexico's interests are our own; no other 
missionary work outside our borders comes quite so close to us. The 
evangelization of Mexico can take place j ust as rapidly as the Christian 
people of the United States wish it to. It is not a matter of sentiment, 
but a matter calling for money and for men of action. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(/) An interesting account of Mexico's past. Bancroft: Popular 
History of the Mexican People. (2) The character of President Diaz. 
Martin, in the Quarterly Review, Oct., 1909 (reprinted in the Living 
Age, Jan. 1, 1910). (3) Mission Work in Mexico. Clark: The Gospel 
in Latin Lands, pp. 189-205. Also Recent Christian Progress, pp. 



Twenty-eight J n t fo e L an d of the Aztecs 183 

582-584. (4) Bible distribution in Mexico. The latest Annual 
Report of the American Bible Society. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What natural features of South America make it a great mission- 
ary continent? 2. What political features tend to make missionary 
work in South America reasonably easy? 3. What political condi- 
tions make the work difficult? 4. How will the industrial develop- 
ment affect the missionary problem? 5. What two forms of Protes- 
tant mission work have been chiefly carried on ? 6. With what country 
is our study of to-day concerned ? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. State the object of the lesson. (Note 1.) 



2. What are the outstanding physical characteristics of the country ? 
(Note 2.) 



3. Mention the more important products, mineral and vegetable. 



4. Would you regard Mexico as a wealthy country ? Why ? 



5. Tell what you can of the city of Mexico. 



6. Describe the political conditions and form of government. (Note 
3.) 



7. Characterize President Diaz, and tell what you can of his work. 



« 



184 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

8. What is the industrial development of the country? 



9. What is the attitude of the government toward the church of 
Rome? (Note 4.) 



10. Describe the moral condition of the country. 



11. What successes have thus far attended the mission work ? (Note 
5.) 



12. What considerations should induce the American churches to 
undertake Mexican mission work on a much larger scale ? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Judging by Mexico's natural resources, what seem to be her 
future prospects? 2. Judging by Mexico's present religious condition, 
what would you say of the religious outlook? 3. What part may 
Protestant Christianity play in the determination of Mexico's future 
history? 4. In view of the limited returns thus far received from 
the work, do you regard it as a paying investment? Why? 5. 
Mention some lines of thought which might be presented to Christian 
young men or young women as arguments showing why they should 
offer themselves for missionary work in Mexico. 

Mission Gem. " My country was long under a fanatic rule which 
denied men the right to think and to be free in conscience. The result 
of that slavery will require many generations yet to obliterate com- 
pletely; but to-day my people enjoy a religious as well as a political 
freedom. I am anxious that it should thus continue — and it shall 
continue." — President Porfirio Diaz. 

_ Personal Thought. In Mexico much of the work has been founda- 
tion laying; its results are not greatly in evidence, but without it the 
later missionary structure cannot be built. Is it not so in the personal 
Christian life? Must I not put into my character many a denial, 
much of resolution, the cultivation of numerous minor habits — things 
which in themselves may never be seen, but which as a matter of fact 
will constitute the foundation of a worthy Christian character? 



Twenty-nine Cuba and Porto Rico 185 

Lesson 29. CUBA AND PORTO RICO. Political, Industrial, 
and Religious Improvement of the Islands. 

Scripture Reading: The High Calling. Lu. 5:1-10. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the recent development of 
Cuba and Porto Rico in political and industrial life, the place of mis- 
sionaries and their work in the islands, and the conditions favorable to a 
strong prosecution of the missionary enterprise. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Islands and their People. The story of missions in 
Cuba and Porto Rico is practically the story of ten years of control 
and occupation by the United States. Cuba is the extreme western 
and Porto Rico the extreme eastern island of the four Greater Antilles. 
The former is also the largest island of the West Indies, having an 
approximate area of 45,000 square miles — about equal to the state 
of Pennsylvania — and with its many beautiful islets and harbors 
possesses a coast-line of almost seven thousand miles, though the island 
itself is only a little over seven hundred miles in length. Ten to 
fifteen per cent of the area is under cultivation, while large tracts are 
useless swamps. Almost one half the island is covered with a luxuriant 
growth of uncleared forest. Here grow many species of palm and 
mahogany, also logwood, and Cedrela odorata, well known for its use 
in cigar boxes and linings of cabinet work. Tobacco, sugar cane, 
bananas, and oranges are extensively cultivated, while among the' 
indigenous plants are the pineapple, sweet potato, and Indian corn. 
The wealth of Cuba is to be found in her flora, for her mineral deposits 
are generally of minor importance. Nevertheless, copper is found at 
many places, manganese of rare quality occurs, asphaltum of unusual 
richness is taken from the bottom of Cardenas Bay, and the deposits 
of iron, the chief metallic resource of the island, yield over a quarter 
of a million tons annually. 

The island of Porto Rico (Rich Port), so called because the early 
Spanish settlers took gold from its river beds, is thirty-five miles 
wide and ninety-five miles long. The interior is elevated, and the 
landscape in general is hilly and picturesque. The mineral resources 
of the island include mercury, found in the Rio Grande, and gold, 
still found in loose pieces in the Sierra Luquillo and Corozal rivers. 
As in the case of Cuba, however, so in Porto Rico, the greater wealth 
of the island is to be found in its flora. Large forest trees, including 
cedar, ebony, and sandal-wood are found in the interior forests, while 
sugar, coffee, and tobacco form the staple products of the farms 
and plantations. 



186 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

The people of these islands may be divided into four classes, though 
the lines of demarcation are not always sharply drawn. These com- 
prise the Creoles, who. are descendants of Spanish stock, usually with 
some admixture of colored blood in their veins; the colored, descend- 
ants of former slaves, not pure-blooded; the blacks, pure-blooded 
descendants of Africans; and the Asiatics, chiefly immigrants from 
East India and China. In 1900 there were over fifteen thousand 
Chinese in Cuba, but by 1907 this number had been reduced to about 
eleven thousand. In both islands only a minority of the people are 
well educated and progressive, while the large majority lack education, 
and many of them, especially those who live in the open country, 
are wholly unacquainted with the usages and proprieties of civilized 
life. The density of population in Cuba is only 36 per square mile, 
but in Porto Rico it is 260. 

Note 3. Political and Economic Situation. Cuba is an independent 
republic, exercising the rights of its liberty under the friendly watch- 
care of the United States. The first attempt at self-government 
came to an end in 1906 under President Palma's administration. In 
the first month of 1909, Cuba took up for the second time " the glory 
and burden " of self-government. At that time, after President- 
elect Gomez had taken the oath of office, the old Cuban flag which 
had floated over the palace throughout the American occupation, was 
taken down, and a new, clean flag was run up in its place. Governor 
Magoon immediately thereafter took his departure from the island, 
sailing out of Havana harbor aboard the new battleship Maine. This 
incident marked the beginning of a new era for Cuba. Real progress 
had been made under Governor Magoon in. legal and judicial affairs, 
in municipal regulations, and in public improvements. The Cubans 
seem to have learned under United States tutelage that politics is a 
matter of principles, not of personalities, and that the minority 
members of the nation and of the congress have a more noble task 
than to foment revolution and arouse popular discord because their 
views fail of adoption. 

Economically, the situation in Cuba is very unsettled at present, 
though there seem to be better times ahead. The chaotic political con- 
dition of the island for the past three years, the long drought of 1908-9 
that reduced the sugar output fully forty-five per cent, and the curtail- 
ment of the tobacco industry, throwing thousands of cigar makers 
out of employment, and the financial stringency of this country, all 
combined to produce " hard times," from which the island probably 
will not recover for several years. 

Porto Rico, which became a possession of the United States in 1898, 



Twerdy-nine Cuba and Porto Rico 187 

is in a situation far different from that of Cuba. The government 
of the island is in the hands of an elected House of Delegates and an 
appointed Executive Council. The latter body — appointed by the 
President of the United States and consisting of eleven members, 
five of whom must be Porto Ricans — in addition to its executive 
functions, acts as the upper chamber, or senate, of the legislature. 
Though this form of government has been distasteful to the majority 
of the Porto Ricans, the island and its people have prospered most 
encouragingly under the existing regime. All federal taxes gathered 
within the island have been turned over to the insular government 
for local improvements. In addition to this, all cost of the local 
army, lighthouse service, revenue vessels and coast surveys, post 
office deficit, weather bureau and agricultural experiment station 
has been paid directly from the federal treasury. From 1900 to 1910 
the present government constructed more miles of roadway than the 
Spanish government constructed during the four centuries of Spanish 
occupation. This has materially reduced the cost of transportation, 
in one instance the reduction being from one dollar to less than twenty- 
five cents per hundredweight for a given distance. Note also the 
following statement of exports and imports: 

Exports Imports 

1901 $ 5,641,137 $ 6,965,408 

1908 25,891,261 22,677,376 

Aside from the tremendous trade increase indicated by these 
figures it is important to note that in 1901 the balance of trade was 
against the island, while in 1908 it was more than three million dollars 
in favor of the island. Land values have quadrupled. Under the 
present regime the island has been opened up to cultivation as never 
before, and one of the sugar plantations is said to operate the largest 
sugar mill in the world. The Porto Ricans are fairly industrious, 
are temperate, good-natured, hospitable, and because of the general 
improvement of the island and the consequent increase of wages, they 
now begin to enjoy better home conditions. 

Note 4. The Educational, Moral and Religious Conditions. When 
Cuba and Porto Rico were under Spanish dominion, practically nothing 
was done by the government for their educational development. It 
is said that on the island of Porto Rico not a single building had ever 
been erected by the Spanish government specially for school purposes. 
To-day schools are to be found throughout the length and breadth of 
both these islands, and in the latter one there are about one thousand 
schools which, with the University of Porto Rico, are maintained at 
a cost exceeding one million dollars. In addition to these schools sup- 



188 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 




Baptist College, El Cristo, Cuba. 



ported by the public treasuries, mention should be made of mission 
schools, some of them of high rank. Although under the provisional 

government of the 
United States in 
Cuba there were 
enrolled in the 
public schools of 
that island 175,000 
pupils, the general 
report of the mis- 
sionaries on the 
field is to the effect 
that since the gov- 
ernment has been 
handed over to the 
Cubans themselves 
the influences in 
the public schools 
are so antago- 
nistic to the ideals of the missionaries that it seems necessary to estab- 
lish mission schools. Wherever these schools are established they are 
bitterly opposed by the Romanists. The political influence of the 
Catholics, however, is on the wane, though they still make their 
power felt. Similar, though better, conditions prevail in Porto Rico, 
making the establishment of mission schools desirable there also. 

It is but natural that the moral conditions growing out of centuries 
of misrule and neglect should be of the worst, and such was the fact 
both in Cuba and Porto Rico when they came under the control of 
the United States. Gambling, love of pleasure and excitement, and 
promiscuous marriages constitute the principal immoralities of the 
people. Against these the Catholic churches raise scarcely a whisper 
of disapproval. Some of the priests preach ethical discourses, which, 
however, are more than nullified by their corrupt lives. 

Religiously, the islands are in a sad plight. It is said that in Porto 
Rico not over two per cent of the population attend the Roman church, 
except on special feast days or on the arrival of the bishop. When 
the latter event occurs, all the surrounding towns turn out in force 
to greet the visiting prelate, mothers bringing their children for 
baptism, and parents seeking solemnization of a marriage which had 
been actually entered into a dozen years before. Religious indifference, 
however, characterizes the great majority. Theosophy and spiritu- 
alism are making strong appeal to many, though many more profess 



Twenty-nine Cuba and Porto Rico 189 

a gross and blatant agnosticism which they seem to think excuses 
their moral shortcomings. Among such people the larger denomina- 
tions of the States, and some of the smaller ones, have sent missionaries, 
who are establishing Sunday schools, churches, and day schools, so 
that to-day Protestantism has won a fair footing in both these fields. 
Though Cuba is much the larger, the interest in the work, and its 
subsequent success, is greater in Porto Rico. In the latter island 
there are over ten denominations at work; more than two hundred 
and fifty pastors, teachers and helpers minister to 140 churches and 
the associated schools, and there is an adult church membership of 
about nine thousand. The total valuation of the more than 130 
church and school buildings is over half a million dollars. In addition 
to these denominational interests mention should be made of the work 
of the American Bible Society and of the Young Men's Christian 
Association. The latter organization is obtaining a strong hold in 
Havana. 

Encouraging as these evidences of progress are, the fields are much 
in need of added funds and men. In Porto Rico the density of popula- 
tion insures an audience wherever the doors are thrown open for a 
Gospel meeting. Cuba is a more difficult field, but is vastly easier 
to-day than it may be to-morrow, when present indifference will have 
solidified into cold infidelity. The history of a decade in these islands 
constitutes an earnest invitation to the Christian church to enter 
and possess the land. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(z) Bible work in these fields. Report of the American Bible Society 
for 1909, pp. 132-135, 186, 187. Also still more recent reports of this 
society. (2) The political and economic situation in Porto Rico. 
Also in Cuba. See current numbers of the magazines and the indexes 
to recent articles. On Porto Rico, The Outlook for June, 1909, has 
an excellent article, (j) Sketch of the general features of the islands 
and their religious conditions. Beach: Geography and Atlas of Prot- 
estant Missions , vol. i, ch. 4. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What field did we consider at our last session? 2. Mention the 
chief physical and material characteristics of the country. 3. What 
bearing do you think the future economic situation of the land will 
have upon Mexican missions? 4. In what respects would you say 
the religious conditions were favorable to Protestant missions? 0. 
What field do we study to-day? 6. State the object of the lesson. 



190 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Describe the physical characteristics of Cuba. (Note 2.) 



2. What is the relative value of Cuba's mineral and vegetable 
products ? 



3. Tell what you can of the physical and material characteristics 
of Porto Rico. 



4. How may the inhabitants of these islands be classified? 



5. What is the political status of Cuba? (Note 3.) 



6. Outline the economic situation in the island. 



7. Describe the form of government which prevails in Porto Rico. 



8. What are the industrial conditions? 



9. What was the educational, moral, and religious situation of these 
islands under Spanish dominion? (Note 4.) 



10. How has the United States government forwarded the work 

of education? 



Thirty Christian Forces in the Philippines 191 

11. What is the present religious condition of Cuba and Porto 
Rico ? 



12. Mention several reasons why this work should be enlarged. 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION* 

1. To what extent was the Spanish government responsible for the 
low moral and religious conditions of the people prior to 1900? Has 
a government any religious obligations toward its people? Why? 
If such obligations exist, what are they? 2. How do the operations 
of the United States in Porto Rico affect the work of the missionaries ? 
3. Compare these fields with South America and Mexico as appropriate 
territory for missionary endeavor. 4. Should you say there is any 
need to hasten their evangelization ? Why ? 

Mission Gem. " Four hundred years of Rome — ten years of the 
Gospel ! A tremendous new force has been introduced. Tremendous 
results are already in sight." — Dr. A. B. Rudd, of Ponce, Porto Rico. 

Personal Thought. Ten years is but a fraction of a man's life, 
yet ten years of Christian labor in Cuba or Porto Rico would mean 
more actual living than thousands of men experience in half a century. 
The opportunities for hard and genuine service with the advance guard 
of the kingdom are calling loudly for men and means. Just at present 
the mission boards are suffering more for lack of money than for lack 
of men, but shall I not stand ready to go if I am wanted, and if they 
have not money to send me, cannot I pay for one who shall be 
my substitute there, where the fight is thickest and the victory must 
be won? 



Lesson 30. CHRISTIAN FORCES IN THE PHILIPPINES. 
Breaking the Bondage of Superstition. 

Scripture Reading: The Fruitless Prayer. 1 Ki. 18:26-29. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To outline the political and economic 
situation in the Philippines, the nature and extent of the missionary 
work now under way, the evangelistic successes of recent years, and 
the encouragements to a larger work in the future. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. The Political and Economic Situation in the Philippines. 

Prior to their occupation by the United States in 1898, the Philippine 



192 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Islands had been a possession of Spain for almost four centuries. 
Throughout these years Spain had done little or nothing to improve 
the condition of the natives, had organized no public benefactions, 
had not even established the rudimentary institutions of civilization. 
This is the more remarkable when we recollect that the occupation 
of the islands was a missionary enterprise. The early expedition of 
Magellan in 1521, and later the expedition under Legaspi, undertaken 
in 1565 at the instance of Philip II and accompanied by six Augus- 
tinian monks, were both in the nature of missionary endeavors. The 
missionary occupation of the islands which rapidly followed these 
early efforts secured the territory to the Spanish crown as well as to 
the Roman church. Since the islands have come into the possession 
of the United States, political neglect has been replaced by political 
care and development. Thirty-nine provinces have been created, 
each under the direct supervision of a governor, while the control of 
the whole has been vested in a governor assisted by a legislative body 
of seven members. The problem of municipal government has been 
well worked out in Manila, where, through the active services of civil 
engineers and health boards a remarkable transformation has been 
wrought. Cholera no longer ravages the country as formerly; and 
lack of proper drainage facilities in the city, creating pest holes for 
the breeding of disease, has ceased to be the normal situation. Politi- 
cally, the Filipinos are infinitely better off under the United States 
than formerly under Spain. 

Economically, the situation is not all that could be desired. The 
agricultural products, as in Porto Rico, constitute the great source of 
income for the country. Tobacco, sugar and hemp make up ninety 
per cent of the exports of the country. In addition to these products, 
the island of Mindanao, the second largest of the group, contains gold, 
quicksilver, and coal in abundance, as well as forests of teak and ebony. 
The trade relationships of the islands have never been arranged to the 
satisfaction of the natives, who, as subjects of the United States have 
objected to paying import duties on their exports consigned to the 
States. Nevertheless, the internal situation of the islands has been 
greatly improved, and is improving constantly through the energy of 
American initiative. The grading of streets, creation of a pure water 
supply, sanitation, street lighting, and numerous other marks of 
advanced civilization are being adopted throughout the islands. 
Probably the widespread construction of good roads, accompanied as 
it is by a considerable reduction in the cost of overland transporta- 
tion, is one of the most important economic features of the new order. 
Of similar significance is the fact that the insular government has 



Th i> rt y Christian Forces in the Philippines- 193 

subsidized eleven different steamship routes, making possible the 
development of a commerce at sixty different island ports. The 
American occupation has acted as a great stimulus to the native, who 
is naturally given to learning by imitation rather than by precept. 
One firm alone recently sold to Filipino agriculturists within a year 
almost half a million dollars' worth of farming machinery. The sig- 
nificance of such leadership in the arts of civilization was correctly 
stated by Prof. H. H. Blakeslee when he said, " America aims at tak- 
ing a dependent people by the hand and leading them slowly and 
gradually along the pathway well marked by the footprints of the most 
highly developed nations, until they are fully prepared to enter the 
great field of constitutional self-government." 

Note 3. The Protestant Missionary Work in the Islands. No 
sooner had the military victories of the United States forces been won, 
than various missionary boards of this country entered the new 
territory. Before this, Protestant missions were impossible, but the 
attitude of the new government encouraged every agency seeking 
the betterment of the natives. Within three years more than a dozen 
evangelizing agencies were on the field. 

The situation with which these forces had to deal was of the most 
discouraging sort. The nominal Christianity which they found 
among the semi-civilized natives and in the chief towns was not 
Christianity at all. It was simple polytheism, idolatry, and supersti- 
tion. The gods and the local deities bore the names of Christian 
saints; images of these saints were set up in the churches, in wayside 
shrines, and in the homes of the people, in all of which places they 
were addressed in prayer and had the homage of worship paid to them. 
The religion was a mingling of the naive conceptions of savages with 
phrases and fragments of Christianity. The church sought no spiritual 
improvement of its members, though the clergy by the exercise of 
skilful craft worked upon the superstitious people, making them 
punctilious in the observance of the rites of the church. By declaring 
that a vision had been vouchsafed to him, or that a holy emblem had 
been discovered in some particular locality, the priest would initiate 
a pilgrimage from all the surrounding country, the people flocking 
to the newly established shrine to pray and to pay. This was the 
method of leading the people into a religious life. 

In the regions not reached by the Roman church the situation was 
really more hopeful. Yet here the natives were often cruel, crafty, 
seldom to be trusted, with few or no ideals of honor, nobility or up- 
rightness. Because they wholly misconstrued the purposes of the 
Americans, they were for the most part bitterly hostile to any American 



194 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



work, even that of the missionaries. In the early days of the occupa- 
tion, all missionaries as well as other Americans were safe after seven 
in the evening only within doors. 

Nevertheless, the missionaries did not encounter the difficulties 
which such a situation seemed to promise. Almost from the first 
some of the communities sought them, and they soon had their 
abilities taxed to the utmost. Reinforcements were sent out, and 
medical work instituted, but the demand for workers only increased. 
Success began to crown the efforts of the missionaries, and the response 
to the Gospel message was beyond what the workers had dared to hope, 
developing in some instances into a mass movement toward Protestant 
Christianity. Even the Moslems, of whom there are 250,000 in the 
Philippines, have been open to the Gospel as in few Moslem fields. 

Note 4. Organization and Methods of the Work. Early in the 
missionary occupation of the islands, the leading denominational 

boards entered upon 
a policy of comity 
whereby it was agreed 
that certain territory 
was to be worked 
by certain forces. In 
but very few instances 
does the work of one 
board overlap that of 
another, but even 
where this does occur, 
a policy of cordial co- 
operation and help- 
fulness prevails. All 
the forces have com- 
bined in the formation 
o f the Evangelical 
Union, and the development of a common Christian church has been 
extended farther than in any other mission field of so recent occupa- 
tion. The Baptist and Presbyterian medical work in Iloilo, and the 
Presbyterian and Methodist co-operation in the Union Seminary at 
Manila, furnish two concrete illustrations of the unity of sentiment and 
purpose actuating all the missionaries. 

One of the more practical forms of mission work has been the estab- 
lishment of industrial schools. Here the natives are taught the 
elements of carpentry or some other trade, and in the girls' schools, 
in addition to book study, courses in cooking and the proper care of a 




Dispensary and Chapel at La Paz, Iloilo, Philippine 
Islands. 

The chapels erected by the Filipinos are of the same material as that 
U6ed in the construction of their houses, bamboos and fronds of the 
nipa-palm. In this structure, chapel and dispensary are combined. 



Thirty Christian Forces in the Philippines 195 

home are provided. Practically all of the large denominations support 
one or more institutions of the industrial type, and the saw-mill, con- 
ducted by the Protestant Episcopal mission at Sagada, has supplied 
all the lumber for the government buildings at Bontoc in the island 
of Luzon. This work has cultivated respect for manual labor, has 
partially broken down the long standing antipathy to toil, and has 
developed in many a real ability to work. 

Medical missions have been much needed, and wherever established 
have been appreciated. At one hospital over five hundred treatments 
were given monthly during a recent year, and at the Union hospital in 
Manila the number runs over one thousand. Still another important 
branch of the work is that of printing and circulating the Scriptures 
in the native dialects, of which there are now thirty-seven in use. In 
addition to the work of the Bible societies some of the mission boards 
have established printing plants, but the supply of literature cannot 
meet the demand. 

Note 5. The Encouraging Outlook. Probably no missionary field, 
unless it be Korea, has a record so replete with encouragement as that 
of the Philippines. While medical work and industrial education have 
met with warm acceptance among these people, the response to evan- 
gelistic labors has been particularly marked. Within the brief 
ministry of six years, one missionary in the Catholic stronghold of 
Manila baptized almost a thousand converts. The Methodist churches 
in the islands in less than a decade of work have built up a church of 
almost thirty thousand members and probationers. A Presbyterian 
missionary baptized about a score of converts during his first year, 
over a hundred and fifty the second, and three hundred and fifty the 
third. In the single year of 1904, a Baptist missionary at Iloilo 
received into the church one thousand converts. But of far greater 
importance than the mere number of converts, is the social service 
which Christianity is rendering to the islanders. A nation trans- 
formed in a decade ! This is actually what has been accomplished in 
the Philippines ; and while it may be true that the most potent factor 
in the development has been the United States government, it cannot 
be denied that the missionary forces have been powerful allies. With- 
out the government, the churches would have labored with difficulty, 
while without the churches the government's efforts would have been 
far less productive of good, and must have resulted in a one-sided 
social development. This widespread response to the evangelistic 
appeal on the one hand, and the remarkable social transformation of 
the people on the other, constitute a strong encouragement for the 
future prosecution of the work. 



196 The Conquering Christ Lessor 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(/) Recent political and economic developments in the Philippines. 
See indexes to periodical literature, bringing the subject down to date. 
(2) The Philippine Islands as a mission field. Report of the Student 
Volunteer Convention, Nashville, 1906, pp. 201-203. (5) Bible dis- 
tribution in the Philippines. Report of the American Bible Society, 
1909, pp. 271-280. (4) Conditions and future of the Philippines. 
Winslow, in the North American Review, now obtainable through the 
Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C, as United States' 
61st Congress, 1st session, Senate Document 81. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the political and economic situation in Cuba? 2. How 
does it affect the missionary problems of the island? 3. Compare 
Cuba and Porto Rico as mission fields. 4. What are some of the 
encouraging features of the work in Cuba? in Porto Rico? 5. What 
field do we study at this session? 6. State the object of the lesson. 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Tell what you can of the history of the Philippine Islands up to 
the present time. (Note 2.) 



2. What are some of the resources of the islands? 



3. How has the government sought to improve the economic con- 
dition of the people? 



4. What is America's purpose in making such large expenditures in 
the interests of the Philippines? 



5. When did Protestant missionary forces enter the islands? (Note 
3.) 



6. Describe the situation with which they had to deal. 



Thmy Christian Forces in the Philippines 197 

7. What success did the missionaries meet notwithstanding adverse 
conditions ? 



8. How is the missionary work of the Philippines organized? (Note 
4.) 



9. What is your estimate of the missionary value of the industrial 
schools? 



10. Mention three other important lines of missionary work. 
4, 5.) 



(Notes 



11. Compare the Philippine field with Porto Rico; with Korea; 
with Japan. 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1 . How is the missionary importance of a field affected by its area ? 
its population? its variety of dialects? 2. What has the church 
done for the Philippines that the government could not do? 3. What 
has the government done for the people that the church could not do ? 
4. How far have the missionary successes been dependent upon the 
government's work? 5. Which demands the first support of the 
churches, the encouraging field or the discouraging one? Why? 

Mission Gem. "Protestant missionaries, so far from forcing them- 
selves upon the Philippines, have thus far been able to do but little 
aggressive proselyting, the Filipinos voluntarily flocking to them in 
such numbers that all their time has been required for instruction and 
organization." — Report of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presby- 
terian Church {North), 1909. 

Personal Thought. The regeneration of the Philippine tribes is 
the fruit of a civilization which calls itself Christian. The ethics, 
the unselfish service, and the liberty limited only by wise guidance 
which the United States has given to these untutored people have 
their roots in the Christian faith. Jesus is still at work in the world, 
the center of all worthy life. 

" Far, far away, like bells at evening pealing, 
The voice of Jesus sounds o'er land and sea, 
And laden souls, by thousands meekly stealing, 
Kind Shepherd, turn their weary steps to Thee." 



198 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Lesson 31. THE NEGRO PROBLEM IN AMERICA. Chris- 
tian Contributions toward its Solution. 

Scripture Reading: God's Repudiation of False Distinctions. Acts 10:9-16, 34-43. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show how the present condition 
of the American negro has been reached, what his needs are, and how 
Christian forces are contributing to meet these needs. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Historical Sketch of the American Negro. One of the 

most momentous problems which this country faces to-day is that of 
the negro and his future place in the American democracy. It is a 
problem which had its origin in the former institution of slavery, and 
is modified in its present nature by the life, customs, and beliefs of 
the African natives who formed our first slave population. The 
African home of the early American slaves was along the coast of the 
Gulf of Guinea (see map, p. 86). This region, low-lying, excessively 
warm, with an atmosphere of unusual humidity, enervated the native's 
physique and weakened his will. The abundance of fruit, vegetables, 
and game left little to be desired in the way of food. Add to the 
climate and vegetation the native social order, in which women were 
the property of men, and wealth was estimated by the number of 
wives, and it becomes apparent that his entire environment tended to 
make him indolent, lazy, weak-willed, knowing nothing of self-control, 
giving himself up wholly to following his own inclinations. 

This was the type of man introduced into America by slavery. 
But note that the institution, by its very harshness and rigor, became 
an agency for the development of a special type of negro. The more 
independent and least docile were killed in the struggle, usually on 
African soil, and of the docile ones who were finally driven aboard the 
slave ships, only the physically strong could endure the voyage to 
America. This selective process was carried still further by the rigors 
of plantation labor, until at length the negro was domesticated, but 
not civilized. 

By the Civil War these people, the product of centuries of barbarism 
and decades of slavery, suddenly found themselves free men, with all 
the privileges which that term implies. Unprepared as they were for 
self-government, they nevertheless held the Southern states in their 
grip for almost ten years, in many instances with disastrous results. 
It is now thirty years since the negro lost his political supremacy in the 
South. These years have witnessed a long uphill climb of the former 
slave, who, so largely unaided, has endeavored to improve his con- 



Thirty-one Tfo e JSfegro Problem in America 199 

ditioti and maintain his rights. In this endeavor he has been terribly 
handicapped by the past. Without education or intelligence, with 
the spirit of independence, manliness and thrift crushed out of him 
by the harsh paternalism of slavery, and unacquainted with the arts 
and handicrafts by which the more fortunate white man wins his way, 
the negro lias toiled and plodded, gradually improving his condition 
and gaining the approbation of the nation. It has only recently 
been realized that the whole problem of the negro is a problem of 
education, and that the aim of all work in his behalf should be to make 
him an intelligent and industrious citizen. Where a few years ago 
the problem of the negro was stated in the query, " What shall we do 
with him?" it is to-day stated in the query, " What are the best means 
by which he may become a worthy contributor to our common weal?" 

Note 3. The Present Condition of the Colored Race in America. 
Numerically the American negroes have shown a remarkable growth. 
In 1880 the census returns of the United States indicated a colored 
population of about six and a half millions. Twenty years later this 
number had increased to almost nine millions, and to-day the number 
is estimated at not less than ten millions. This growth, however, has 
not been in the same proportion as the total population of the country. 
In 1860 the negro population was one seventh of the total, but in 1900 
it was only one ninth. That this change in the proportion is not due 
to immigration would seem to be shown by reference to eighteen 
Southern states in which, during the twenty years prior to 1900, the 
white population increased fifty-seven per cent while the negro popula- 
tion increased only thirty-three per cent. 

The present intellectual condition of the negro is far above what it 
was a generation ago. At that time the South was still impoverished 
by the war, and naturally felt less inclined to appropriate funds for 
the education of former slaves than for white children. Nevertheless, 
the record of the South in negro education is worthy of much praise. 
Sixteen Southern states between the years 1870 and 1905 expended 
over one hundred and fifty-five million dollars for negro public schools, 
and in the year 1905-6 added the munificent sum of over nine million 
dollars to the same work. Benevolent people, mainly church members, 
North and South, have poured and are pouring large sums into the 
South for the support of negro schools, both denominational and un- 
denominational. It is estimated that over a quarter of a billion 
dollars would represent the total contribution to negro education. 
In the 1906 report of the Commissioner of Education it appears that 
about 1,660,000 pupils are enrolled in the negro public schools, and that 
over two thousand teachers and almost forty-five thousand pupils 



200 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

are in the 127 institutions which are not supported by the state, 
though a few of them receive government aid. As a result, a large 
portion of the colored population has obtained at least a common 
school education, while the more fortunate have the opportunity of 
learning a trade in one of the industrial institutions or of pursuing 
studies leading to professional careers. 

Economically the lot of the negro has improved with the spread 
of negro education. By nature he is not gifted with the art of using 
tools or of handling machinery. More than other men, he seems to 
need to be taught how to do things. Because of this he seldom 
becomes a skilled laborer or mechanic, and hence, in competing with 
more capable white labor, finds himself handicapped. For this rea- 
son the negro, while improving, is scarcely yet a competitor with 
the white laborer, notwithstanding the lower wage for which he is 
usually willing to work. 

In respect to morals and religion, also, the negro seems to have 
noticeably advanced since his release from slavery. Yet the high 
attainments reached by few and the slight advance of the many is in 
part offset by discernible retrogression in other quarters. The death 
rate of the negroes in the cities is seventy-three per cent greater than 
the death rate of the whites in the same cities. While this excessive 
rate is no doubt due in part to the greater disadvantages under which 
the negro lives, many authorities agree that it is also due in large 
measure to social immoralities. It is pointed out, for instance, that 
two thirds of the negroes in Chicago live in three wards which harbor 
practically all the social vice of the city. The responsibility of white 
men for this evil is, however, undeniable. 

Numerically, intellectually, economically and morally American 
negroes have made notable progress within a generation. Yet the 
exceptional achievements of the few should not blind us to the fact 
that the great mass still lags far behind, and that notable exceptions 
merely show what the race may become. Tremendous as have been 
the efforts put forth, the problem is so large that it really has only 
begun to be solved. An authority on the subject has recently said: 
" We recognize that our work so far is only experimental. Half the 
race is still untouched, and of the other half but few have passed 
beyond the limits of the rudest knowledge." 

Note 4. Nature of Christian Effort in the Negro's Behalf. Immedi- 
ately after the close of the Civil War, the Northern churches began 
missionary work among the freedmen. It is not surprising, however, 
that the missionaries, unfamiliar with the social and economic con- 
ditions of the, South, should in many instances have misdirected their 



ikirty-one The Negro Problem in America 201 

efforts All endeavors to enlighten the negro by short-cut methods 
failed. He was incapable of discharging responsibilities for which 
he had never been trained. It became apparent that nothing short 
of a long and gradual process of education could fit him for a man's 
part and place in the civic life. The long, hard task of educating and 
leading into independence an indolent and dependent people was 
begun. Separate churches have had to be established, since the 
negroes enjoyed only a limited freedom in the white churches; Sunday 
schools and day schools have had to be founded, and here and there 
institutions for manual training and higher education have opened 
their doors to colored boys and girls. While these institutions are 
fewer than the public schools, they include more than twenty pro- 
fessional colleges, offering courses in medicine, law, and theology, as 
well as such institutions as Tuskegee and Hampton — known through- 
out the world for their contributions to the problem of negro education. 
About one half of all the students at these institutions are taking 
courses in industrial training. This work has always been conducted, 
since its inception, either by denominational home mission boards 
or by benevolent organizations inspired by the Christian ideal, while 
the funds for its maintenance have come almost wholly from Christian 
men and women, North and South. 

Note 5. What has been Done and what Remains. As a result of 
these efforts, tens of thousands of negro boys and girls have been 
given the elements of a common school education, many have been 
fitted for professional careers, and thousands, trained for industrial 
usefulness, have gone out from Tuskegee and Hampton to be exemplars 
to their race. They have shown their people how to establish better 
homes, how to make the soil more productive, and how to acquire 
greater skill at trades and handicraft. In hundreds of negro com- 
munities the cottage has replaced the cabin, and the small farm the 
garden patch. Throughout the South it is now possible to find the 
negro holding an honorable pla.ce in every walk of life. There is a 
gradual shifting of the colored population from the drier regions into 
the rich agricultural lowlands, where they are proving their ability as 
farmers. Others are moving into the cities, where they are finding 
remunerative work, or in some cases establishing themselves as 
successful merchants, bankers, contractors and tradesmen. Still 
others have attained enviable positions in the professions, and a 
few, by dint of indomitable perseverance, have won recognition in 
political life. Ambassador Bryce has said that the American negro 
in the first thirty years of his liberation made a greater advance than 
was ever made by the Anglo-Saxon race in a similar period of years. 



202 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 




the present time 
grammar school 



At Hampton Institute. 

The Huntington Memorial Library supplements the work of all de- 
partments, loans about 15,000 books annually, and has a reference 
room in constant use. This building is one of over one hundred which, 
with their equipment and with two large farms, constitute the plant of 
Hampton Institute. 



What remains to be done is a question that forces itself upon us 
as we review what has already been accomplished. The outstand- 
ing need of the negro 
at 
is 

education and man- 
ual training. Better 
provision for the 
former is urgent, since 
the great majority 
will not continue their 
education beyond the 
lowest schools. What 
is not learned there 
will seldom be learned 
at all. Moreover, the 
grammar school will 
sift out those who are 
capable of assimilat- 
ing a higher education 
from those who are 
not. But it is scarcely of less importance that normal and higher 
education be made readily available for those who are capable and 
ambitious. Negro colleges, well equipped and of high standard, should 
be established at advantageous points in the Black Belt. 

Finally, the heathen superstitions that still survive among the 
Southern negroes need to be displaced by true conceptions of Chris- 
tianity, and their highly emotional religion strengthened by an in- 
fusion of ethical principles. Number eight of the Atlanta University 
Publications states the religious situation succinctly in these words: 
" It has been said that the negro plantation preacher is the curse of 
the people. Honesty, truth, and purity are not taught, because 
neither he nor the people have come to realize that these virtues are 
essential to the religious life. The ethical power of Christianity is 
scarcely felt. The time is ripe for a forward Gospel campaign in the 
great needy back country of the Black Belt." Notwithstanding all 
that the church has contributed to the solution of the negro problem, 
it seems that, because of the numerical increase of the race, the problem 
is almost as far from solution as it was thirty years ago. The present, 
therefore, is no time to lose interest in this most pressing problem. 
Its solution depends largely upon strong persistency and unflagging 
zeal. 



Thirty. one Xhe Negro Problem in America 203 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(l) The negro as a racial element in American life. Commons. 
Races and Immigrants in America, ch. 3. (2) The work of the Freed- 
men's Bureau. Refer to United States histories. (3) The work of 
Tuskegee or Hampton Institutes. Refer to annual catalogues and 
descriptive circulars of these institutions. (4) Social and economic 
development of the negro. Helm: The Upward Path, chs. 4, 5. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Mention several improvements which the United States govern- 
ment has effected in the Philippines. 2. What is the religious situation 
in the islands? 3. By what means and methods are the missionary 
forces contributing to the moral and social betterment of the people? 

4. What would you say had been the success of Philippine missions? 

5. What is the title of to-day's study? its object? 



2.) 



QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. How was the negro affected by his African environment ? (Note 



2. In what respects did slavery modify the negro character? 



3. To what extent was the negro prepared for the responsibilities 
which freedom imposed after the Civil War ? 



4. What has been the numerical growth of the race within the last 
generation? (Note 3.) 



5. State the attitude of the South toward negro education. 



6. How has the economic situation of the negro changed since the 
Civil War? 



204 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

7. What is the moral and religious condition of the negro? 



8. Through what means have the churches and other benevolent 
organizations attempted to aid the freedmen? (Note 4.) 



9. Compare the negro public schools with the institutions which are 
not under state control. 



10. How is the improvement of the negro manifesting itself ? (Note 5.) 



11. Mention some of the outstanding needs of negro education. 

12. What are some of the religious needs of the negro? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Why did the experiment of placing civic rights in the hands of 
the negro prove largely a failure ? 2. To what extent have the negroes 
proved themselves capable of using the right of suffrage? 3. How is 
the intellectual progress of the negro related to his economic improve- 
ment? 4. To what extent should Christianity be credited with the 
general advance of the negro? 5. By what means can the Christian 
church best meet the negro's present needs? 6. How far is it right 
to limit, by special legislation, the enfranchisement of the negro? 

Misson Gem. " The various missionary societies have done a 
work which, in a large degree, has been the salvation of the South; 
and the result will appear in future generations more than in this." — 
Booker T. Washington. 

Personal Thought. The tribal gods and tribal religions of the 
ancients gave way to national and racial religions. To-daywe are 
witnessing the process by which national religions, becoming interna- 
tional, are struggling for a world supremacy. As a Christian I believe 
that Christianity is to be the all-conquering faith; and yet, do I not 
sometimes circumscribe my personal faith by the lines of race distinc- 
tion? Not until Christians possess a love strong enough to demolish 
all race barriers, can a pure Christianity become the world's one 
religion. 



Thirty-two Mountain Missions of the South 205 

Lesson 32. MOUNTAIN MISSIONS OF THE SOUTH. 
Encouraging Work among an Isolated People. 

Scripture Reading: The Supremacy of God in the Mountains. Is. 2:2-4, 12-17. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To note the origin of the Southern 
highlanders, their present condition, and the agencies which are at 
work for their social and spiritual betterment. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Location and Origin of the Southern Highlanders. One 

of the most interesting as well as most beautiful sections of this country- 
is that region of the Southern states traversed by the southwestern 
ranges of the Appalachian system. This mountainous region, about 
five hundred miles long and two hundred and fifty miles wide, con- 
stitutes a highland empire " without seacoast or bay, inland lake 
or navigable stream." It includes large portions of Virginia, West 
Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, 
and Alabama. Possibly two thirds of the total population live in 
towns and cities, along the rivers and railroads. These people enjoy 
the ordinary advantages of town and village life, and are not to be 
confused with the remaining third, the stalwart and weathered high- 
landers who form the subject of this lesson, who make their homes 
in the secluded and isolated glens and gullies among the mountains, 
and who wring a precarious living from poorly tilled clearings on the 
sunny slopes of the hills. This mountain population, approximately 
one and a half millions, according to the census of 1900, exceeded the 
combined population of Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, 
Idaho, and Oregon. 

Who are these highlanders, and whence did they come? In the 
early part of the eighteenth century Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, to 
escape English tyranny and religious persecution, fled to North 
America. A few of these families settled in New England, New York, 
and Pennsylvania and pushed westward to the colonial frontiers. 
But the religious atmosphere of these sections was not congenial, for 
New England was pre-empted by the Congregationalists, New York 
by the Dutch Reformed, and Pennsylvania by the Quakers. To avoid 
these sects the Scotch- Irish sought a location to the southward, and 
settled in what is now the Virginia and Carolina region. These moun- 
tainous sections of country were particularly congenial to them, and 
here, for two centuries, they have lived and wrought almost untouched 
by the more prosperous white planters in the lowlands, or by the servile 
blacks with whom they neither could nor would compete in labor, 



206 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



This condition created a -social isolation comparable only to the physi- 
cal isolation which characterizes their mountain homes. The- stern 
and solitary life in the mountains has tended to fashion characters 
in many instances peculiarly American — strong, fearless, and kind. 
Not only are American ideals found here, but the purest of American 
blood also. In many of the counties over ninety per cent of the popula- 
tion is of strict Scotch-Irish descent. Immigration has not touched 
them; among them the alien is almost unknown. Tennessee, Ken- 
tucky, and West Virginia have thirty-one mountain counties with an 
average of less than seven persons of foreign birth to each county. 
Virginia and Georgia have twenty counties with eight or less foreigners 
to a county, and North Carolina has six counties containing all together 
but eleven foreigners. Indeed, it has been said that these isolated 
Southern mountaineers constitute " the only portion of our popu- 
lation that retains pure and undefiled the Americanism of colonial 
times." 

Note 3. Social, Moral, and Religious Conditions of the Highlanders. 
Many thousands of these highlanders have through successive genera- 
tions grown poorer, more exclusive, and more ignorant, until now 
their condition is about as bad as it well can be for civilized people. 
Their homes are usually cabins of but one room containing a huge 
open fireplace at one end and a few chairs, a crude table, and several 
mattresses. A crane in the fireplace, a kettle or two, a skillet, and a 
few odd dishes constitute the household utensils. Sometimes there 
is a bed in the house, and sometimes there is none. The family is 
always large, frequently numbering ten or even fifteen children, the 

younger of whom are 
unhampered in their 
play by any excess of 
clothing. In certain 
sections ignorance 
and isolation has led 
to a degree of inter- 
marriage which has 
already proved disad- 
vantageous. A bare 
living is eked out of 
the poor mountain 
soil. Mountain ap- 
ples, corn, apple 
whisky, corn whisky, pork, occasionally chickens and eggs — these 
constitute the sole range of products of many of the mountaineers, 




A Typical Home in the Southern Mountains. 



Thirty-two Mountain Missions of the South 207 

though sometimes the more progressive will own a clearing where a 
fair wheat crop is grown or garden vegetables are raised. 

Hospitality and homely kindness are characteristic of these high- 
land dwellers, and the stranger who stops for the night at some humble 
cabin on the mountain side will be given the most generous service 
which the host's limitations will permit. But this is because the 
mountaineer places the stranger among his friends, for he classes all 
men either as friends or enemies. As his friendships are strong, so 
also are his animosities. If he himself is party to a feud, he knows 
but one class of enemies, and treats them all alike — that is, as he holds 
life cheap and knows himself to be a hunted man, he shoots an enemy 
on sight. The spirit of the feud is not yet dead among these high- 
landers, though it has decreased during the last two generations. 

Education is the great lack of these mountaineers. Many of their 
errors and faults are due simply to ignorance. Schools have been 
practically unknown among them for many years. "It is not un- 
common to find an entire county where one half of the children of 
school age have never been inside a schoolhouse, and where one half 
of the voters cannot read their ballots." Even where the local schools 
are established they hold sessions only for two, three, or four months 
out of the year, and the teachers are usually wholly unfitted for the 
task. To obtain better ones seems impossible, as they would need to 
go into the mountains to live, and could not obtain a sufficient salary 
to make the venture a paying one. Yet the people themselves, 
especially of the younger generation, are no doubt anxious for the 
privileges of education, as appears in the plaint of the little boy who 
said, " My paw jes' growed up and never knowed nothin', and so did his 
paw afore him. Sometimes when I be hoein' corn on the mountain 
side I looks up the crick and down the crick, and wonders if there ain't 
nobody never comin' to larn me nothin'." 

Accompanying this widespread ignorance and illiteracy, one finds 
much superstition. Signs and portents are eagerly watched for and 
implicitly believed in, and, what is more surprising, charms and odd 
formulas are commonly employed in times of sickness for the cure 
of almost anything or everything. A single instance will illustrate. 
A missionary among the mountains found a young man suffering from 
frozen feet. " His friends had applied the following strange remedies: 
The feet had been wrapped in the skins of rabbits killed during the 
dark of the moon, and, to add to the efficacy of the treatment, a 
crooked penny had been buried at the northeast corner of the cabin 
on the outside just where the water drops from the eaves." 

Isolation has also operated to make the mountaineer a law unto 



208 The Conquering Christ 



L esson 



himself in many respects. Wholly unable to see that the government 
had any right to tax him for whisky distilled from his corn when it did 
not tax him for any other product of his farm or his genius, he took 
the law in his own hands and resisted seizure by the revenue officer. 
Justices of the peace and ministers of the Gospel being scarce, marriage 
was more easily entered upon than by troubling the law. And in 
proportion as marriage became a matter of simple choice, so also did 
divorce. Laxity in respect to the marriage relation has become one 
of the most serious conditions of these isolated regions. It should be 
added, however, that in large degree the spirit of lawlessness is dis- 
appearing, and people who a short time ago were operating illicit 
stills are to-day maintaining prohibition policies. The South, once 
noted for its whisky drinking, is now the strongest temperance section 
of the country. 

In spite of his lawlessness, ignorance, feuds, and whisky, the moun- 
taineer has always maintained a respect for religious subjects. No 
matter how checkered his career, he was quite likely to regard himself 
as having " got religion." Among these people to " get religion " 
means only to experience a sudden emotional frenzy, with no sub- 
sequent change of life or conduct. Their religious creed has been 
handed down from generation to generation, and so distorted that in 
some cases it falls little short of heathenism. Bible quotations simi- 
larly transmitted have become twisted beyond recognition. The 
mountain preachers are frequently not above their fellows in Scripture 
knowledge, and they largely gauge their lives by the mountain stan- 
dards. One of them, though he had murdered several men " to protect 
his family against the other side," asserted that as he had got religion 
he knew he was saved. These shortcomings, however, spring from 
ignorance, for as soon as truer religious ideas are presented these 
people gladly accept them. 

Note 4. Christian Efforts in Behalf of the Highlanders. Missionary 
work in this region has been criticised by some who feel that the 
solution of the mountaineers' problems is to be found in moving away 
from the unproductive localities and into the valleys or towns where 
the soil is richer, and where to some extent the mills afford new op- 
portunities for remunerative employment. Indeed, in many places 
the missionaries urge those who live far back in the mountains to leave 
their cabins and move into the towns. But the success which has 
already attended the efforts thus far put forth, and the awakening 
of the people to the need of secular education and religious training, 
more than justifies a continuation of the mountain missions, This 
means the opening of primary schools for the old as well as the young, 



TMHy-two Mountain Missions of the South 209 

and the establishment of Sunday schools, followed at a later date by 
the founding of churches. Where the mission work is well developed, 
there are schools of manual training for the boys, and classes in home 
science, including cooking, washing, sewing, reading and writing, for 
the girls. The church, developing the institutional spirit, may provide 
bowling alleys, reading rooms, shower baths, and even hotel accom- 
modations. Hospitals have been founded and medical attendance 
provided for many of these mountain communities which otherwise 
would be without the blessing of the physician. 

The organizations carrying on any considerable work in the Southern 
mountains are few. The American Missionary Association has for 
some years been engaged in establishing mountain schools, carrying 
them along until they have become self-supporting, then withdrawing 
and going elsewhere to repeat the operation. In this way a number 
of self-supporting institutions have been established. Denominational 
work is carried on chiefly by the Episcopalians, Southern Baptists, 
and Northern Presbyterians. These denominations have respectively 
twenty-seven schools with thirteen hundred pupils, twenty-four schools 
with forty- three hundred pupils, and fifty schools with thirty-eight 
hundred pupils. A less extensive work is carried on by the Con- 
gregationalists, Northern Methodists, and Disciples. The non- 
denominational work of Berea College, located at Berea, Kentucky, is 
especially worthy of mention. This institute does for the mountain 
whites what Tuskegee and Hampton are doing for the colored youths 
of the South. 

The boys and girls of the mountains are quick to learn. Many, 
if not most, of the schools have applications from more pupils than they 
can accommodate. One mission reports that more than fifty girls have 
been turned away from the girls' school, and several boys are waiting 
for entrance to the boys' department. But of even greater significance 
are the reports of the new religious life making itself felt throughout 
the mountain districts. No doubt this is reflected in the widely 
changed attitude toward the liquor problem. It is certainly indicated 
in the reports which tell of hundreds of lives made over, and of thou- 
sands who, while not openly confessing Christ themselves, bless the 
missionaries and their work. The mountainous character of the field 
and its scattered population make the work by no means easy, and in 
but few instances can it be spoken of as extensive. Yet it calls 
for men and women of peculiar fitness — big-hearted, clear- visioned, 
persons of strong sympathies, much perseverance, and a real humility 
of heart. To such the Southern mountains offer one of the most 
inviting opportunities to be found in the home mission territory. 



210 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(z) Southern Highlanders in current novels. Churchill: The Cross- 
ing; and Fox: The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come. (2) Sketches 
by workers in the mountain fields. Hughson (compiler) : The Church's 
Mission to the Mountaineers of the South, (j) General sketch of the 
conditions in the Southern highlands. Guernsey: Under our Flag, 
ch. 3. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. How did slavery affect the native character of the negro? 2. 
State what the negro problem is. 3. Describe the present condition 
of the American negro. 4. What is the state doing for his betterment ? 

5. What is the Christian contribution to the solution of the problem? 

6. Mention several of the more important needs in negro education. 

7. What people are we to study at this session ? - 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. State the object of the lesson. (Note 1.) 

2. Where are the Southern highlands? (Note 2.) 



3. How large is the mountain population of the South ? 



4. Who are the highlanders, or Southern mountaineers? 



5. Describe a typical mountaineer's home. (Note 3.) 



6. Characterize the highlander in respect to his friendships and his 
animosities. 



7. What is the state of education among these people ! 



Thirty-two Mountain Missions of the South 211 

8. To what extent do they have respect for law? 

9. Tell what you can of the religious life of these people. 



10. What are some of the Christian efforts that have been made in 
behalf of the highlanders? (Note 4.) 



11. How do the people show appreciation for what is being done for 
them? 



12. What qualities should a person possess in order to work accept- 
ably among these people? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What would the origin of the highlanders suggest as to their 
inherent worth? 2. Mention several considerations which might 
weigh against the further establishment of Christian schools and 
churches among these people. 3. What considerations would favor 
the continuance of this work? 4. How do you think the religious 
teaching of the workers would be likely to affect the anti-liquor move- 
ment in the Southern mountain regions? 5. Compare the Southern 
mountains with Mexico as a mission field. 

Mission Gem. " We cannot hope to see the beautiful Southland 
taking the position to which it is so royally entitled without the 
Christianized, educated support of these citizens of its ramparts. 
The country needs them. They are bone of our bone and flesh of our 
flesh, and they wait ' upon the mountains ' for ' the feet of him that 
bringeth good tidings.' " — Alice M. Guernsey. 

Personal Thought. I have been studying about people of very lim- 
ited means and opportunities. In many respects my circumstances 
are vastly superior to those under which countless other human beings 
live. For this situation am I as thankful to the heavenly Father as I 
ought to be ? Should not His goodness lead me to share my blessings 
with others less fortunate? 



212 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Lesson 33. THE FOREIGN INVASION. Religious Phases 
of the Immigrant Problem. 

Scripture Reading: A Land Blessed of God. Is. 60: 1-15. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the causes and character 
of the foreign invasion, its effect upon American life, and the responsi- 
bility of the Christian churches for the social and spiritual welfare of 
the incoming millions. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Whence Come they that Arrive in Ships? The vast tide 
of immigration flowing into the United States is made up of streams 
of people from every country of Europe and Asia. This influx of 
a million persons annually, arriving from many climes, bringing with 
them a wide diversity of custom, manner, and speech, has created in 
the United States a series of social, economic and religious problems 
which no country has ever before been called upon to face. Where 
are these people to be settled, how will they affect the economic con- 
ditions of the country, how may they be brought to an appreciation of 
American standards, and, in the upheaval which has taken place in 
their lives, how are old religious ideals to be preserved or new re- 
ligious conceptions imparted ? These and many similar questions force 
themselves upon every student of the situation. 

A generation or two ago the bulk of immigration was. made up of 
people readily assimilated, whereas to-day it is composed of people less 
inclined to conform to our standards and institutions. Thus in 1882 
Great Britain and Ireland contributed twenty-seven per cent of the 
immigrants, Germany contributed over thirty-eight per cent, and 
Sweden gave us ten per cent. Twenty years later, however, the 
sources of our immigration had so shifted from western Europe to 
southeastern Europe that these same countries contributed respec- 
tively only seven per cent, four per cent, and five per cent, while Italy 
contributed over twenty-eight per cent and Austria-Hungary over 
twenty-seven per cent. These latter countries are still furnishing 
about fifty per cent of our immigration, though the government of 
Austria-Hungary has taken strong measures to prevent such a sweep- 
ing exodus, which, in five years, has drawn from that country approxi- 
mately one fiftieth of its population. Russia, the third largest con- 
tributor, sends us almost twenty-five per cent of our immigrants. In 
1905, Poles, Italians and Hebrews, the three European races least 
responsive to American ideas, made up over one half of the aliens 
who entered our gates. 

Only a small proportion of our immigrants come from Canada, 



Thirty-three The Foreign Invasion 213 

Mexico, and Asia. Yet Asiatic immigration has strongly affected the 
economic situation in the West, giving rise to social and governmental 
discriminations against the Chinese, and to some extent against the 
Japanese, forcing these people into a class sharply distinguished from 
the American and European elements. 

Note 3. Why they Come and where they Settle. The motives which 
underlie this tremendous immigration are twofold. Many of these 
people are alienated from their native lands by intolerable conditions. 
Religious persecution harries the Jew out of Russia, a despotic land- 
lordism drives the peasant of southern Italy to our shores, and dis- 
proportionate taxation and compulsory military service goads the 
Austrian and the Hungarian to escape the onerous burdens of his 
native state. On the other hand, certain incentives to immigration 
have their source in this country, viz.: glowing reports of economic 
conditions, high wages, prosperity, free homesteads, invitations and 
urgings from relatives already here, accounts of American life cir- 
culated by immigrants returning to their native villages, and finally 
the constant propaganda maintained by the transcontinental railroads 
and transatlantic steamship lines in every quarter of Europe. A 
letter here, persecution there, an American missionary over yonder, 
a steamship company agent in an interior city, an Italian peasant 
returning home with what seems an independent fortune — all these 
influences co-operate in building up the immigration business. 

These incoming millions do not ordinarily dispose themselves about 
the country to the best advantage. The fact that the cities are the 
favorite stopping places leads to the growth of foreign colonies, Jewish, 
Italian, Greek, Chinese. To these the new arrival hastens, knowing 
he will be cared for and will find employment more readily through 
those of his own nationality than through those of a different race. In 
the city, also, the alien can be more independent. He can pick and 
choose his employment and his employer. In the colony he finds the 
customs and the social life of his native country preserved. 

An investigator found over sixty-five nationalities represented in 
the population of New York City, counted approximately fifty news- 
papers printed in foreign languages, and discovered one public school 
which harbored children of twenty -nine different nationalities. While 
the Jews, the Irish, the Hungarians, and Italians stop for the most 
part in the cities and manufacturing towns, the Scandinavians, Scotch, 
English, Germans and Russians, being more inclined to agriculture, 
push inland. Many of them make their way either to the farm lands 
of Texas and New Mexico, the Middle West, or the great Northwest 
both of the United States and Canada. In some counties of Texas so 



214 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

many Germans live that the county records are kept in their language, 
while in the Northwest there are whole communities of Scandinavians 
and of Russians. 

Note 4. Religious Conditions among the Immigrants. The re- 
ligious destitution of the immigrants is due to two causes. Many of 
them know nothing of religion except as represented by the established 
churches, and these they look upon as leagued with the government 
for the oppression of the poor. They have been taught to obey the 
church, not to love it. They have been accustomed to see the priests 
sell their spiritual services for money, and to be told that the accept- 
ance of a creed is. more important than a moral life. From such a 
religion the spirit revolts. In multitudes of cases the chief motive in 
emigration to America is to escape ecclesiastical tyranny. When such 
persons reach America, they naturally shun religion, because they do 
not understand the ways of the American churches, services are not 
conducted in their own language, and their fellow countrymen do not 
attend. 

But even those who are religiously inclined rarely find a community 
in which their own native church has been established, and to attend 
a church of another faith is not an attractive alternative. Differences 
between the immigrant and the American in customs, in clothing, in 
speech, and in religious conceptions prevent easy transition into 
American religious life. 

These difficulties have kept a large proportion of our immigrants 
irreligious. A certain city of Massachusetts contains six thousand 
Italians of whom less than three hundred attend the Catholic church. 
In another city of the same state only about sixty out of two thousand 
Italians go to religious services. Among Bohemian immigrants in 
this country are more than three hundred societies of free-thinkers. 
Towns that attract Greeks, Poles, and Hungarians have practically 
no churches to which these people can go, and usually no one who is 
capable of ministering to their religious needs. What is true of these 
people is true of the great bulk of our immigrant population. Here, 
then, is the problem which the churches of America are facing, How to 
provide adequately for the religious needs of this flood- tide of humanity 
annually pouring into our midst and spreading far and wide over our 
land. 

Note 5. Mission Work for the Alien: its Means, Methods, and Re- 
sults. Among those races which are most easily assimilated into our 
American life, the religious problem is more readily solved than 
among those with whom assimilation is difficult. But the majority 



Thirty-three 



The Foreign Invasion 



215 



of the immigrants belong to the latter races, and herein lies the diffi- 
culty. To evangelize the indifferent and to conserve a pure religious 
faith where such exists is the task to which practically all denom- 
inational home mission boards and numerous smaller missionary 
organizations have set themselves. Because many of the immigrants 
come from countries predominantly Lutheran in faith, that church in 
this country ministers 
to a large number 
of foreigners. The 
number of Lutheran 
communicants among 
the Scandinavians, 
Finns, Slovaks, Letts, 
Poles, Bohemians, 
and Magyars is about 
equal to the number 
of German commu- 
nicants — a little over 
one million. The 
other evangelical 
churches of America 
have a total of over 
three thousand for- 
eign congregations 
with a membership of approximately a quarter of a million. The 
Methodists carry on organized work among eleven different national- 
ities, the Congregationalists among thirteen, the Presbyterians among 
fifteen, the Baptists among nineteen, and other denominations among 
smaller numbers. While the greater part of the work is carried on in 
the cities, much is prosecuted in the farming communities and manu- 
facturing centers to which the immigrants maybe drawn. The church, 
the school, the social settlement, the boys' club, and numerous other 
agencies are employed to reach and develop the best nature of these 
foreign people. 

One of the most interesting phases of this work is the way in which 
it is related to the foreign missionary enterprise. Here, indeed, the 
distinction between home and foreign is obliterated, for in thousands 
of cases the converted immigrants have returned as American mission- 
aries (not formally so called, to be sure) to their native lands, there to 
spread ideas of political and religious liberty and new conceptions of 
the Bible, gained in America. " Every foreigner converted in America 
becomes directly or indirectly a missionary agent abroad, spreading 




Model Italian Chapel, Orange 



This building was erected by the North Orange Baptist church as 
a memorial of its fiftieth anniversary. No more practical form of 
memorial could well be conceived. 



216 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

knowledge of the truth among his kindred and tribe." At a mission- 
ary conference held in Canton, China, there were fifty native Chinese 
missionaries present, twenty-five of whom testified that they were 
converted in American missions and subsequently went to China in 
order to help win their countrymen to Christ. Innumerable such 
incidents can be cited. A multitude of men and women more or 
less Americanized and Christianized are constantly returning to their 
former homes. If these returning multitudes, frequently fifty thou- 
sand in a month, have felt the power of a strong and sympathetic 
Christianity, if they have been permeated with the Gospel, if the 
churches of America have truly done their duty by them — what a 
band of missionaries ! They would preach whether they intended to 
or not. And they would not go as paid emissaries. Their voluntary 
services and their incidental living would act as the leaven of the 
Gospel, gradually but surely changing the character of the old order 
to the fashioning of a new. The immigrant shows us that there is no 
essential difference between home and foreign missions. The task is 
one. Christian missions are worldwide. In this work which is proving 
so vital to the spread of the kingdom each individual may have a part 
by making it a matter of prayer, of personal service wherever possible, 
and of generous gifts through the regular channels of the various home 
mission boards. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Women's work for alien women. Grose : The Incoming Millions, 
chs. 5, 7. (2) Relation of the immigration problem to the American 
churches. McAfee: Missions Striking Home, ch. 3. (3) Elements of 
our immigration and the problem of assimilation. Commons: Races 
and Immigrants in America, chs. 4, 9. (4) Sympathetic word pictures 
of the immigrants. Steiner: The Immigrant Tide. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Where are the Southern highlands? 2. What economic con- 
ditions prevail in these regions? 3. How have these conditions 
affected the social and religious life of the highlanders? 4. What 
bodies are interested in the improvement of these people? 5. What 
means are being employed for their betterment? 6. What is the sub- 
ject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Mention some of the problems to which immigration gives rise. 
(Note 2.) 



Thirty-three j] ie Foreign Invasion 217 

2. How has the character of our immigration changed within a 
generation ? 



3. What situation has Asiatic immigration created in the West? 



4. Why do foreigners seek our shores in such large numbers ? (Note 
3.) 



5. Why do the immigrants congregate in the cities! 



6. What nationalities are more inclined to seek the country! 



7. State the religious conditions which generally prevail among the 
immigrants. (Note 4.) 



8. Account for these conditions. 



9. What is the problem which the churches of America are facing? 



10. To what extent are the churches discharging their respon- 
sibilities to these strangers in our midst? (Note 5.) 



11. How is this phase of home mission work related to foreign 
missions ? 



218 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

12. Mention several ways in which one may definitely contribute 
to the solution of the immigrant problem. 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Should the Christian church welcome immigration or seek to 
restrict it? Why? 2. How would an aggressive home missionary 
policy by the churches affect the immigration problem? 3. In what 
respects has the immigrant been improved by his contact with Ameri- 
can life? How has this frequently reacted upon life in his native 
community? 4. Mention some respects in which immigrants have 
been important factors in the development of this country. 5. Why 
should Christian men and women be sympathetically friendly toward 
foreigners ? 

Mission Gem. " When American Protestantism sees in immigration 
a divine mission none will discover in it thenceforth a human menace." 
— Dr. Howard B. Grose. 

Personal Thought. There are, probably, few harder tasks for the 
Christian than to exercise a friendly, not to say brotherly, interest in 
the alien. Is it not often my privilege to interpret to some foreigner 
the Christian life which I profess? 

*' How blest are they who in the mind of Christ 
Can stand amid the throng, revealing each 
To each, and reaching hands of peace can clasp 
And join the hands of those whose hearts would draw apart !" 



Lesson 34. THE WORK IN MODERN BABEL. Reaching 
the Alien Population of our Cities. 

Scripture Reading: The City Redeemed with Justice. Is. 1 : 21-27. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the important place of 
the city in the world's evangelization, the religious conditions which 
prevail among throngs of city dwellers, and the work which must be 
done if these centers of influence are to become factors of righteousness 
in our national life. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Increased Importance of the City. The past century 
has witnessed the beginnings of a new social and economic order. 
Prior to the nineteenth century the population and interests of the 
country were almost wholly rural. Trades were largely carried on 
in the household or small shop. Factories were practically unknown. 
The centralization of industries had not begun. But to-day the 



Thirty-four jfc Work in Modern Babel 219 

trades have been organized, factories have been established, and, 
because the question of labor and transportation was more readily 
solved in the city than in the country, industries have congregated 
in the former. As a result, profound changes have taken place in 
the social life of the nation. Population has poured into the cities 
from the country. The relative proportion of rural and urban popula- 
tion has been almost reversed. At the beginning of the nineteenth 
century only three per cent of our population was to be found in the 
cities; at the beginning of the twentieth century over thirty-three 
per cent was in our cities, and in 1910 the proportion of urban popula- 
tion rose to over thirty-eight per cent. At this rate a generation will 
not go by before the greater part of the population of our land will 
be found in the cities. In the Eastern states this has already occurred. 
Approximately eighty per cent of the population of Massachusetts 
lives in the cities. Where this condition prevails, as in all the manu- 
facturing states, the city determines the public policy. 

Our cities are also the centers of our wealth. The great organiza- 
tions and the corporations, which are the financial bases of our national 
enterprises, are all found here. Here also are the marts of trade, 
the banking houses, the railroad centers and the clustering factories. 
Here is seen the almost omnipotent power that attaches to wealth, 
whether for good or evil. When Christianity can control this wealth, 
it will have acquired an important factor in the evangelization of the 
world. 

The city is important also because, proportionately, it harbors the 
worst, as well as some of the best, elements of our population. Here 
criminals are nurtured and lawlessness finds its freest expression. 
Pittsburg has nine times as much crime as one finds among the same 
number of people in the rural districts of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, 
seven times as much. If crime is to be suppressed, the struggle is 
pre-eminently one in which the city must engage. 

The city newspapers create and express public opinion. There 
are but few influential newspapers that are issued for the express 
purpose of reflecting the opinions of the country population. If, then, 
the city press is the creator as well as the disseminator of opinion, 
the Christian churches should make the utmost effort to inspire this 
agency with Christian ideals. 

Note 3. The Factors which Create the City Problem. These vary 
somewhat in different cities. Thus in certain communities the hard 
nut to crack may be the saloons, or the tenements; in others it may 
be corrupt politics, or a vicious foreign element. It is possible, how- 
ever, to mention several factors which more or less produce the city 



220 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



problem wherever it is found. Our Eastern cities are mainly foreign, 
and in this respect differ from the cities of the Pacific coast, which, 
untouched by the tidal wave of European immigration, remain 
predominantly American. Dr. Josiah Strong points out that " in 
eighteen of our largest cities the population which is foreign by birth 
or parentage is two and a half times as large as the native white 
population." In twenty-four large cities, including New York, more 
than half the voters are of foreign birth, and the census of 1900 records 
thirty-eight cities of over 25,000 inhabitants each, in which the 
foreign born comprise over thirty per cent of the population. This 
large foreign element tends to reproduce undesirable features of a 
foreign and un-American civilization. This tendency is increased 
by the feeling which impels individuals of the same nationality or 
race to flock together, so that in Chicago, New York, Pittsburg, and 
other large cities, one finds clearly defined colonies of Jews, Italians, 
Chinese, Syrians, Slavs, etc. 

The housing conditions in our large cities, which constitute another 
element in the problem, are directly related to the spread of socialistic 
and anarchistic principles. Since over two thirds of New York City's 
population lives in tenements, a very small number own their homes. 
Now property holding, as Dr. Strong points out, makes a man con- 
servative. " The man who has nothing to lose is more likely to 
become revolutionary; hence the city is the hot-bed of anarchism." 
Other political theories also find their first expression in the city, 
and it is here that they either gain adherents and produce a party, 
or die a natural death. If erroneous political doctrines are to be 
defeated, the defeat must take place in the city. Here also occurs 
the strongest fight against corrupt politics and systematized graft. 

The city, furthermore, is burdened with institutions which cater 
through debasing agencies to the social desires. Low amusement 
halls, gambling dens, the brothel, the saloon, and similar places 
abound in the great centers of population. If they are to be eliminated 
from our national life, the elimination must take place in the city. 

Finally, the hard industrial conditions which prevail among the 
unskilled and poorly paid workers, and which lead to poverty, im- 
morality, and crime, have an important bearing on the problem of 
our cities. Who shall ever tell the misery and degradation entailed 
by a wage so small that toil to the full limit of endurance nets scarcely 
enough to keep soul and body together? But this is the wage of 
thousands in our cities, and if the condition is to be remedied it must 
be remedied where it exists. 

Note 4. Religious Conditions in the Cities. The city contains 



Thirty-four j ne Work in Modern Babel 221 

at once both a wealth and a dearth of religious life. Here the de- 
nominational interests of the nation have their strength, and here 
also are to be found the great masses which constitute the unchurched 
portion of our population. In San Francisco there are twenty-five 
thousand Jews, of whom only fifteen hundred attend the synagogues. 
Similar figures for various nationalities in different cities could be 
given (see Note 3 of the preceding lesson). It is, moreover, a fact 
that Protestant Christianity is notably weak in a number of cities, 
while Catholicism is gaining ground. Strangely enough, this situation 
prevails not so much in those cities whose population is largely com- 
posed of foreigners from Catholic countries as in the cities which are 
distinctively American. Thus San Francisco, with an approximate 
population of 350,000, contains but fifteen thousand Protestant 
communicants. In the same city the Catholic churches claim a 
membership of 200,000. Indeed, so little have the churches applied 
themselves to the problem under discussion that it is estimated not 
one per cent of the slum population of the country is being touched 
by Protestantism. Significant also is the fact that to-day " there 
are only about half as many Protestant churches to the population 
as there were fifty years ago." Moreover, the churches have deserted 
some of the most needy places. Within nineteen years eighty-seven 
churches and missions moved out of lower New York City. 

Over against all these adverse conditions we must place the fact 
that the city churches are the bulwark of organized Christianity. 
They and they alone are capable of handling the situation just set 
forth. If they fail, there is no recourse to other forces. And this 
means that the city must save the city. No task before the Christian 
church is more fundamental than this — that the church shall vindicate 
its right to live by transmitting the power of a new life to the com- 
munity of which it forms a part. 

Note 5. Christian Work in Behalf of the Cities. Organized mission 
work in all the larger cities is for the most part carried on not by the 
home mission boards of the several denominations, but by lay organiza- 
tions operating in close sympathy with the denominational board. 
The Methodists, in the National City Evangelization Union, and in 
the appointment of a special city work committee by the Board of 
Home Missions and Church Extension, have initiated a definite 
denominational movement for city evangelization. Of equal value 
in the solution of the city problem is the work carried on by the im- 
migration department of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions. 
This department is prepared to make an elaborate and comprehensive 
study of the religious and sociological conditions among the immi- 



222 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



grants of any city, as it has already done for New York, and then 
to show how to reach these people with the Gospel. These move- 
ments, however, are recognized as mere beginnings. Most of the 
denominations make no attempt to solve the problem, and, as in- 
dicated above, many of the churches have actually run away from 
it. 

Where city missions are conducted, they are usually under lay 
supervision. In the large cities this work is frequently carried on 
with marked success. Here the missions of the Salvation Army, 
Volunteers of America, and various temperance societies are carrying 
on effective work. A spirit of comity and division of labor is usually 
found in the larger communities, but in the smaller towns it not 
infrequently happens that several organizations will work for a single 
racial or industrial group to the utter neglect of others. With the 
proper organization of city mission work, and with the cordial co- 
operation of all who are engaged in it, these mistakes could be elimi- 
nated. 

One of the hopeful signs in respect to the evangelization of the 
city is the increasing indisposition on the part of the churches to 
vacate down- town sections. In those districts out of which churches 
have been moving for the past twenty years, new churches are now 
being established. And in the most promising instances these are 
not small mission churches, but large, roomy, and costly buildings 
adapted in interior arrangement to the needs of a social and religious 
institution whose business it is to minister to human need and win 
men to Christ. Examples of such work are the First Presbyterian 
Church and the East Side Parish Church (Methodist) in New York 
City. These churches, by institutional methods, classes, clubs, lec- 
tures, and by an aggressive evangelism, are grappling with the city 
problem. 

Until denominational agencies, either national or state, can meet 
the city problem on a scale commensurate with its importance, it 
becomes local organizations and individuals who are concerned for 
our national religious life to employ every means available for advanc- 
ing the work in their own community. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Political corruption as a phase of our city problem. Steffens: 
The Shame of the Cities. (2) Work in behalf of the city children. 
Horton: The Burden of the City, ch. 5. (3) Social settlement work 
as contributing to the problem's solution. Betts: The Leaven in a 
Great City. (4) A typical city mission for evangelistic work. Had- 



Thirty-four jj le Work in Modem Babel 223 

ley: Down in Water Street. (5) The social evil as a problem of the 
city. Report of Committee of Fifteen: The Social Evil. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the size of our present immigration? its character? 
2. What is the political importance of the character of our immigra- 
tion? 3. What religious problems arise out of this immigration? 4. 
How are these problems being met by the Christian churches? 5. 
Along what lines might the church profitably enlarge its work among 
foreigners? 6. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What change has within a century taken place in respect to the 
importance of the city? (Note 2.) 



2. How has this change been related to economic conditions? 



3. Mention several other considerations which make the city a 
supremely important factor in the national life. 

4. How does the foreign population of our cities help to create a 
problem? (Note 3.) 



5. How does property holding strengthen a law-abiding disposition ' 



6. What is the effect of hard industrial conditions upon the social 
life of the workers ? 



7. Describe briefly the religious conditions of our cities. (Note 4.) 



8, In what cities are the Catholics strongly intrenched? 



224 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

9. What has often been the attitude of the Protestant churches 
heretofore toward the most needy sections of the city? 



10. To what extent has denominational interest in city evangeliza- 
tion been shown? (Note 5.) 



11. Compare the work as conducted in the large cities with that 
carried on in the smaller towns. 

12. What is one of the most hopeful signs in respect to the evangeli- 
zation of the city? 



13. In what way can the city church and the city Christian con- 
tribute to the solution of the problem? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. How may business concerns and manufacturing companies 
help to solve the city problem? 2. What feature of the problem 
might be appropriately dealt with by the municipal government? 

3. In what respects can the church do what the municipality cannot? 

4. Describe as best you can the. nature and the results of social settle- 
ment work. 5. Is the common type of city mission, small, dimly 
lighted, poorly supported, and conducted by one or two faithful souls, 
sufficient to meet the religious need of its neighborhood? On what 
kind of basis should all city mission work be placed? 6. What 
interest has the country church in the city problem? 

Mission Gem. " The problem of the city is the problem of the 
new civilization. The city paganized means civilization paganized. 
The city evangelized means civilization evangelized." — Dr. Josiah 
Strong. 

Personal Thought. Patriotism alone should prompt me to share 
in the work of the redemption of the cities. If this be true of national 
patriotism, how much more should it be true of that holier patriotism 
which has its roots in a yearning desire to see the kingdom of God 
established among men. Is not my present part in the kingdom to 
help bring it to pass in the community where I now_ reside ? Surely 
this is the personal service which God wants, and with His strength 
I shall strive to find some definite work to do, and then will do it as 
best I can. 



Thirty-five The Greater West 225 

Lesson 35. THE GREATER WEST. Its Future in the 

Making. 

Scripture Reading: The Attainment of International Supremacy. Deut. 28:1-14. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the industrial and social 
situation in the western sections of the United States and of Canada, 
the religious needs of the people, and what the Christian church should 
do to meet these needs. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. The Land and Resources of the West. The area of that 
region vaguely spoken of as the West, a region with the Canadian 
provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba as two of its extremities 
and California and New Mexico as the third and fourth, is approxi- 
mately two thirds of the area of the United States. This vast region 
presents many different types of country — mountains, deserts, arable 
plains, and forests. The wealth which lies both above and below the 
surface is almost inconceivable. California, the "garden patch" of 
the nation, produces in abundance nearly every good thing that 
grows. The Sacramento valley alone, it is estimated, could produce 
enough food to sustain seventy million people, almost the entire popula- 
tion of the United States. In two or three of the northern counties 
there is sufficient lumber to allow one thousand carloads to be taken 
out every two weeks for the next one hundred and fifty years. In 
the wheat growing section of the Northwest gigantic crops are being 
harvested year after year. One farmer not long since was paid for 
his season's crop in a single check of over seventy thousand dollars. 
The Canadian territories of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta 
comprise some of the greatest wheat lands of the world, four times the 
wheat growing area of the United States, and are known as Britain's 
granary. The land boom which for the past two decades has been 
building up a Western empire within the States has extended into 
these Canadian territories. From east to west they are traversed by 
three great railroads, — the Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk Pacific, 
and the Canadian Northern All possible means are used to attract 
settlers. The railroads grant special low freight rates to home-seekers, 
and the government grants free entry of household effects, wearing 
apparel, and limited farming equipment to settlers from the United 
States. In order to attract experienced farmers from the Western 
states the Canadian government has stationed its immigration agents 
throughout Montana, Michigan, Indiana, North and South Dakota, 
Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Washington. A single genera- 
tion has seen the Canadian Northwest increase its population tenfold. 



226 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Apart from the wheat growing and lumber interests of the North. 
west, the Pacific coast of this region offers almost unparalleled oppor- 
tunities to fishing industries. The rivers abound with salmon, and 
the canning establishments along the Columbia, which put out millions 
of cans annually, have a world-wide repute. Off the banks of Queen 
Charlotte Islands are the finest halibut fisheries known. British 
Columbia also possesses inexhaustible deposits of precious metals and 
coal. 

Of large economic importance to the development of the entire 
Northwest are the efforts constantly being made to produce varieties 
of cereals that mature more quickly, thus permitting their ripening 
during the shorter summers farther north. Fifty years ago a con- 
gressional commission declared that wheat could not be profitably 
grown north of the state of Illinois. Gradually, however, its cultiva- 
tion was pushed into North and South Dakota and Montana, then 
crossed the Canadian border into the great wheat area to which we 
have referred, and it is still advancing toward the arctic lands. Mr. 
Elihu Stewart, the Canadian superintendent of forestry, as early 
as July 15 found wheat in the milk, and numerous vegetable crops 
well advanced in the region of Fort Providence, only five degrees 
from the arctic circle. For one of the richest sections of the new 
world this means a development which will rival that of our own 
Western states. 

Note 3. The People of the West. The people of the West may 
roughly be classified as Indians, American-born whites, and immi- 
grants from Europe and Asia. The Indians, both in the United 
States and in Canada, are confined to reservations, and their interests 
are largely held in trust by the governments. There are approximately 
250,000 Indians in the West, about a third of whom are in Canada. 
They have schools, and certain tribes have made considerable progress 
in the arts of civilization. The majority of them, however, care little 
for education, and are content to remain as they are. In the Canadian 
country several of the tribes are quite inferior to the average red man 
of the United States, and vigorously resist all improvement. 

The American-born whites make up by far the larger portion of 
the population. In 1891 less than four per cent of the Canadian 
population was European or Asiatic, and the pioneers in the Western 
states were almost all American-born. The great tide of immigra- 
tion has modified though it has not wholly reversed this situation. 
The coast cities of the West, as noted in the preceding lesson, are still 
predominantly American. These people are characterized by push, 
energy, and indomitable courage. Their work of empire building on 



Thirty-nve xhe Greater West 227 

the frontier had to be done without precedent to guide them. Much 
was done without forethought or definite planning. The latter half 
of the nineteenth century saw numberless Western communities 
marked by lawlessness and disorder. Communication, roads, and 
railroads were established after settlement had made them imperative. 
All this tended to develop a people resourceful, hardy, fearless, and 
able to do things. In many respects the settlement now taking place 
in western Canada is making good use of the lessons taught by the 
pioneers of the States a half century earlier. In the first place com- 
munication precedes settlement throughout the great wheat plains 
of western Canada. The government has divided the entire area 
into townships of 36 square miles, each square mile being a section, 
and land allotments being made by sections or quarter sections. The 
railroad companies also are developing the country by laying out 
whole towns and assigning ground for parks and public buildings. In 
the case of the city of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Boston 
firm of civil engineers was engaged to visit the site of the future city 
while it was still a forest, and map out its boulevards, avenues, and 
alleys, its business and residential sections, its docking facilities and 
its drainage system. With such planning, it is not surprising that, 
at the first sale of Prince Rupert lots, one fifth of the city area sold for 
one and a quarter million dollars. All this means that the Canadian 
settler begins his career much ahead of where the United States 
settler began his. Social conditions at the outset are far in advance 
of a pioneer stage. The government looks well to educational facili- 
ties. " Any district, not to exceed five miles in length or breadth 
and having within that area four residents and twelve children, may 
be organized into a school district, a schoolhouse built and teacher 
supplied." Moreover, the telephone, which has only recently become 
a widely appreciated means of communication in sparsely settled 
territory, enters almost all these communities of the Canadian North- 
west shortly after settlement. In this work also the government 
either offers substantial encouragement to capitalists, or takes up the 
work itself. In three of the provinces all the main telephone lines 
are owned and operated by the government. 

The Asiatic and European immigrants in the western part of the 
continent are found mainly in the United States. The agricultural 
races of Europe are doing most of the big farming in the states, while, 
especially along the coast and in British Columbia, the Chinese are 
employed largely as servants and unskilled laborers. The Japanese 
tend to establish themselves as small house owners, market gardeners, 
and merchants. The Bohemians, who constitute over one third of the 



228 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

population of Wisconsin, own some of the finest farms in the state, 
and they look well after the education of their children. In the Middle 
West the Poles are already recording the second generation and are 
pushing toward the Pacific states. In Minnesota and Wisconsin the 
Slovaks, for centuries an agricultural people, have settled in colonies 
" where for many miles on every side, the land is entirely in their 
possession." The immigrants who go to the farms in the Western 
states are noticeably quicker in reaching American standards than 
are their countrymen in the city colonies. 

Note 4. The Church in the West. Missionary endeavor in behalf 
of the Indians of the West has long been under way, and in many cases 
with most commendable results. The work done among the Navajos 
of Arizona and New Mexico is typical. Ten mission stations scattered 
around the border of their reservation are able to minister effectively 
to about five thousand, leaving, however, five times that number un- 
touched. The few schools established make provision for only five 
hundred out of a possible fifteen thousand children of school age. 
While the missions are able to bring the Gospel to many, the odds 
against which they struggle are evident. Encouragement is offered, 
however, by the way in which the Gospel is appealing even to those 
tribes once accounted the most warlike, savage, and untamable. 




Former Methodist Church in Phoenix, Ariz. 

Eloquent preachers have arisen among the Sioux, and some of their 
communities have been completely transformed. Among the Cana- 
dian Indians the Church Missionary Society of London has carried 
on work since 1820, and that society now reports that " the majority 
of the Indians in northwest Canada have by this time embraced 
Christianity." 



Thirty -five 



The Greater West 



229 



Among the American-born whites the work consists mostly in gather- 
ing together in the smaller communities a half dozen or a score of 
persons, many of whom may not be church members, but all of whom 
are anxious that their children and the community shall have the 
advantages of a church and Sunday school. The Christians are or- 
ganized into a church, and preaching services are begun. When time 
for building a church edifice arrives the home mission society, or some 
closely allied body, usually loans some of the needed funds. Many 
hundreds of the largest and most enterprising churches of the West 
have grown from beginnings such as these. The Canadian communi- 
ties are generally better provided with churches than are those of our 
Western states, the reason being that their American-born settlers 
are more inclined to establish churches than are the foreigners who 
are building up our West. The advanced social and economic con- 
ditions in western Canada are also favorable to the church life. It is 
said that " church organizations are numerous, and there are few 
spots that can be found, even now, where they are not accessible." 

Religious work among Western immigrants is largely done by 
missionaries of their own race. In the coast cities flourishing Chinese 
and Japanese 
churches have grown 
from mission origins. 
In the Bohemian, 
Slovak, and Swedish 
colonies the native 
tongue is generally 
retained in the reli- 
gious services, there- 
by making the work 
more immediately 
helpful. 

The present forces 
are wholly inade- 
quate to meet the 
need for religious 
work among Indians, American-born whites, and immigrants. The 
attitude of the West toward religion is one of preoccupation and 
indifference. The exigencies of a hard life, rather than an intentional 
anti-Christian spirit, have been working for fifty years to create those 
conditions which home missions in the West are designed to meet. 
But for this task men and funds must be forthcoming. Unless the 
Christian church can give to the entire West a conception of Christian 




Present Methodist Church, Phoenix, Ariz. 



230 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

righteousness, of a Christian social order, and of Christian justice, 
all to be employed in public service as well as in the home, it will have 
failed of its mission to the homeland, and if it fails here, will it»succeed 
abroad ? 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 
(i) The new West in the making. Roosevelt: Winning of the West 
(4 vols.), or Drake: The Making of the Great West. (2) How the 
deserts have become fruitful orchards and waving grain fields. 
Smythe : The Conquest of Arid America. (3) The Canadian territories 
of the Northwest and their promise. See descriptive pamphlets issued 
by the transcontinental railroads, especially by the Grand Trunk 
Pacific, obtainable from the principal ticket agencies in any of the 
large cities. See also magazine articles. (4) The class should fa- 
miliarize itself with its own denomination's operations in the far West. 
See the latest annual report of the home mission body. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Why is the city an important factor in the national life ? 2. How 
is the economic development of the national resources related to the 
growth of our cities? 3. What features of the city constitute the 
so called " city problem "? 4. What has been the attitude of the 
Protestant churches to this problem in the past? 5. How are the 
churches trying to solve the problem now? To what extent have 
the larger denominational organizations undertaken the evangelization 
of the city? 6. State the subject of to-day's lesson. What is its 
object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Give some idea of the area of the West. (Note 2.) 



2. How has the land boom for the Western states affected settlement 
in Canada? 



3. What agencies have promoted the settlement of western Canada ? 



4. Mention the chief resources of these regions. 



Thirty-five The Greater West 231 

5. How have horticultural experiments been of great economic 
value in the Northwest? 



6. What are the conditions among the Western tribes of Indians? 
(Note 3.) 



7. Compare the settlement of the Western states with the settlement 
of western Canada. 



8. Describe social conditions in the Canadian West. 



9. What immigrant races are found in the West? 



10. Tell what you can of mission work done for the Indians. (Note 
4.) 



11. Describe the establishment of a church in a western community. 



12. What'success has attended work for the Asiatic immigrants? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Give some reasons why home missions in the West are of great 
importance. 2. Which section is likely ultimately to develop the 
better social and economic situation, western Canada or the western 
United States ? 3. What effect is irrigation having on the development 
of the Western states? 4. Tell what you can of the missionary work 
of your own denomination in these regions. Do you think this is 
sufficient ? Compare what your denomination does for home missions 



232 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



with what it does for foreign missions, and try to decide whether the 
interest is fairly divided. 

Mission Gem. " The outcome of home missions in America in the 
next twenty-five years will determine the destiny of American Protes- 
tantism and the nation itself." — 0. G. Dale. 

Personal Thought. There is a staying at home just as heroic as a 
going to foreign soil. The West needs sterling Christian men in her 
pulpits, and is sending out the clarion call : 

" Bring me men to match my mountains, 
Bring me men to match my plains, 
Men with empires in their purpose 

And new eras in their brains, 
Pioneers to clear thought's marshlands 

And to cleanse old error's fen; 
Bring me men to match my mountains, 
Bring me men." 



Lesson 36. MISSIONS FOR MEN OF THE SEA. Work 
Ashore and Afloat. 

Scripture Reading: God's Power Revealed on the Sea. Ps. 107:23-32. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the conditions of religious 
need that long prevailed among the toilers of the sea, the work that 
is now being done in behalf of these men in our port cities, and espe- 
cially the missions conducted on shipboard among the northern fishing 
fleets. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Work for Seamen in the Ports. For many years no im- 
portant social class was more neglected by Christian workers than 
seamen. The negro, whether bond or free, had long been an object 
of missionary endeavor before attention was drawn to the sailor. 
Perhaps this was due to a common belief that sailors have no interest 
in religion. They were usually uncouth and ignorant. In many cases 
they were depraved criminals. When they reached port, their first 
concern was the rumshop, where they soon spent all their earnings. 
This was made easy by an arrangement between the master of a 
vessel and the saloon keeper whereby the sailors were paid off in the 
saloon and a percentage of the amount was turned back to the ship- 
master by the rum . seller. Thus the sailor the moment he landed 
fell into the clutches of a man bent only upon getting him drunk and 
stripping him of his money. Moreover, the sailors were not easy peo- 
ple for Christian workers to approach. They were mainly foreigners, 
picked up from the refuse population of port cities, familiar with 



Thirty-six Missions for Men of the Sea 233 

brutal treatment and quick to do unto others as they had been done by. 
When in port their lodgings were usually in the worst quarter of the 
city. For a stranger to go there was likely to be resented as an in- 
trusion and to precipitate a fight. 

But these conditions have now almost passed away. About half 
a dozen missionary societies are ministering to the religious needs of 
seamen in all parts of the world. Of these organizations the British 
and Foreign Sailors' Society operates in more than twenty different 
countries, and other societies undertake a less extensive work. Most 
of them attempt some social work, but the main emphasis is on evan- 
gelization. In many of the leading ports their work is carried on in 
barges properly equipped, or in an overhauled vessel of greater or 
less antiquity. These " floating Bethels " are popular with the sailors, 
who receive a cordial welcome to " come aboard " as soon as they 
arrive in harbor. More and more, however, buildings are taking the 
place of these floating missions, and in some ports structures of good 
size and excellent equipment have been provided. The largest and 
finest of these is the Institute for Seamen in New York City, conducted 
by the American Seamen's Friend Society This building, which 
cost $325,000, half of which amount was given by Mrs. Russell Sage, 
is six stories high, is finished inside in oak, marble and tiling, and 
includes every possible comfort and necessity for the sailors. A 
chapel, auditorium, restaurant, library, swimming-pool and dormitory, 
with billiard, smoking and reading rooms, are some of the attractions 
offered to men who have just completed wearisome voyages. 

Similar work is conducted by the naval branches of the Young 
Men's Christian Association. Among United States naval forces there 
are eight of these, two of which are located in the Philippine Islands. 
All offer facilities for letter-writing, dormitory accommodations, 
baths, meals, Bible classes, games, laundry facilities, and safe deposi- 
tories for money. The six branches located in the United States 
alone received over half a million dollars in deposits during the year 
1908-1909. 

Statistics of the work of these seamen's societies are difficult to 
obtain. Many of the men are only occasional visitors. Records of 
conversion are not to be accepted at their face value, as but few of 
the missions are in themselves also churches, and many who profess 
conversion backslide. The work, too, is so scattered that results 
cannot be summed up with accuracy. We know, however, that many 
a seaman has expressed deep appreciation of the privileges which he 
has enjoyed, thousands upon thousands of dollars have been saved 
for families to whom the money rightly belongs, hours or even days 



234 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

in a strange city have been passed with cheer and brightness by men 
who otherwise would have been driven to the saloon and the cheap 
boarding house, and millions of Scripture portions and religious tracts 
have been scattered broadcast among men of every nation in their 
own tongue. 

Note 3. Conditions among the Fishing Fleets. To appreciate what 
has been, and is now being, done for the men who spend most of their 
time afloat, it will be necessary to survey briefly the conditions of 
life among the fishermen of the North Atlantic and of the North 
Sea. The fishing industries of Great Britain [have long been carried 
on off the east coast of England and Scotland, in the wild and treacher- 
ous waters of the North Sea. Fleets of thirty, forty, or even a hundred 
and more fishing smacks, each fleet bearing its distinctive name, such 
as Hellyer's Fleet, the Great Northerns, Gamecock Fleet, or the Red 
Cross Fleet, put out from the various fishing ports along the coast 
and make for the banks. The trip takes almost a week with the smacks, 
but steam trawlers cover it in less time. The carriers employed to 
take the catch to market provide daily service between the fleets 
and port. The men formerly were ten weeks on the sea and then had 
a respite of about a week on land. To-day many of the steam trawlers 
remain on the banks only about two weeks at a time, and carry their 
catch to market themselves. 

The life of the fisherman is that which he lives on the banks, and his 
occupation is one of the hardest and most dangerous to which men 
give themselves. From the day the banks are reached until the trip 
is at an end, life is one hard, relentless task. The trawls must be 
shot and hauled three times daily, with no Sundays off — first, early in 
the morning, again in the afternoon, and once more at midnight. 
Between these periods of toil the fisherman must find his own time 
for eating, sleeping and recreation. For days he knows no change of 
clothing, sleeping in his sodden garments, and in winter weather 
knowing what it means to be called for the midnight haul from the 
close and reeking atmosphere of the forecastle, with his clothing 
steaming from the heat of his body, to go out into the darkness of the 
night and in the teeth of a bitter gale, amid sleet and snow, to empty 
the trawl. Then comes the task of cleaning and sorting the fish, 
washing and boxing them and making record of the same, all by the 
fitful gleams of lantern light. Then below to the forecastle again 
for another snatch of sleep before the morning call. To this must 
be added the once-a-day task of ferrying all the boxed fish to the steam 
carrier, which having received the day's cargo makes an early start 
for the market. 



Thirty-six 



Missions for Men of the Sea 



235 



Added to the hardships which such a life entails, there used to be 
the inroads of the liquor ship, known as the coper. The blighting 
effect of this evil upon the fishing industry was so great — not only in 
getting virtually all the money which the fishermen possessed, but 
frequently in accepting, in lieu of cash, fishing gear, which of course 
the men did not own — that an Act of Parliament passed in 1891 made 
it illegal to sell spirituous liquors to fishermen. But this did not stop 
the traffic, for the coper simply changed his base of operations to Bel- 
gium or Dutch ports. It seemed impossible to drive him from his 
field of operations. And then it was admitted that the fishermen ought 
to have their tobacco, and this they were only able to obtain when 
the coper came around. These conditions fostered negligence of 
business, disorderliness, and crimes of a more serious nature. And 
a similar situation prevailed among the fishing fleets which sought 
their luck on the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland and 
Labrador. Here was a situation waiting for an effective remedy. 

Note 4. The Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. To 
relieve the conditions among the North Sea fishermen was the desire 
of a few persons who had their interests at heart. But the best they 
could do was to send into the fleet as their representative an occasional 
health-seeker who dreamed of strength regained on a fishing trip. 
It was not till about 1876 that this interest grew to proportions war- 
ranting the purchase of a boat to be used distinctively as a mission - 
ship. At first this 
new vessel was the 
subject of some ridi- 
cule among the fleets, 
and immediately won 
the enmity of the 
liquor ships. In order 
to compete with the 
latter it became neces- 
sary for the mission 
ship to carry tobacco, 
papers, books, mit- 
tens and mufflers, and 
anything that would 
help to win the fisher- 
men from the grip of 
the coper. This was 
not easy, for the men had to have tobacco, and at first the mission 
ship could not possibly sell it as cheaply as the enemy. Ultimately, 




A Mission Ship on the North Sea. 



236 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



however, through large philanthropy combined with shrewd business, the 
mission ship was able to sell tobacco for two thirds of the coper's price. 
This was the master stroke of the mission forces, and with it the ruin of 
the coper began. Gradually this creature of evil has been driven from 
the seas and the work of the Royal National Mission has increased until 
its sphere of work includes the North Sea trawling fleets, the mackerel 
fishers of the Channel and southwest coast of Ireland, the trawlers 
and herring fishers of the west coast, the cod fisheries of Labrador, 
covering a coast line of six hundred miles, and the east and north 
shores of Newfoundland. The floating equipment comprises three 
hospital steamers carrying qualified medical aid, and capable of caring 
for men who have suffered injury at sea, four dispensary vessels 
capable of rendering first aid to the injured, though not installed with 
hospital equipment, one old vessel used as a harbor mission station, 
the fully equipped hospital ship Strathcona, now at work along the 
Labrador coast, and three hospital steam trawlers of about 275 tons each 
which have been specially constructed for the mission and equipped 
with every convenience both for fishing and for medical and reli- 
gious work. The land equipment of this organization comprises about 
twelve fishermen's institutes at the chief fishing centers along the coast, 
as at Aberdeen, Hull, Yarmouth, and Folkestone. These institutes 
contain coffee bars, recreation rooms, and dormitory accommodations. 
On the Labrador coast, under Dr. Grenfell, are Battle Harbor Hospital, 
Indian Harbor Hospital, Harrington Hospital, and St. Anthony 
Hospital, all of which, besides being institutions for the alleviation 
of pain and suffering, are centers of social influence and Christian 
enterprise. A summary of a single recent year of work is as follows: 

Patients treated (medical and surgical cases) 15,512 

Missionary visits paid (approximately) ; 3,933 

Religious services held .' 2,940 

Total number of attendances (including mission crews) 45,1 19 

Temperance pledges taken 502 

Estimated number of visits paid to institutes 350,225 

Number of times institute beds occupied 15,638 

Number of letters written and received by fishermen (approx.) 28,912 

Healthy literature distributed over 50 tons. 

Such a work as this, while it does not record a definite number of 
conversions, is clearly an illustration of the spirit of Christianity. As 
such it speaks for itself. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) The Labrador country. Grenfell and others: Labrador, the 
Country and the People. (2) As a worker sees the work. Grenfell: 
Harvest of the Sea. (3) Some of the literature obtained by the class 



Thirty-six Missions for Men of the Sea 237 

secretary from the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen. 
{4) Reports of any of the organizations carrying on work for seamen 
in the port cities. These reports will not be readily procured except 
by classes in cities where the work is conducted. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the general extent of the territory studied in the last 
lesson? 2. In what respects is the Canadian West different from the 
West of our country? 3. Which field, would you say, is in the greater 
need of home missionary work? Why? 4. To what extent has the 
work among the Indians been successful? 5. What home mission 
work in the West is being conducted by your own denominational 
society? 6. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What was for many years the attitude of Christian workers 
toward the seamen? (Note 2.) 



2. Account for this lack of Christian interest in the welfare of sailors. 



3. What work for seamen is now being done in the port cities ? 



4. Tell what you can of the Young Men's Christian Association work 
in the navy. 



5. Where do the great fishing fleets operate ? (Note 3.) 



6. Describe something of the life of a fisherman on the North Sea. 



7. What was the influence of the coper on the British fishing in- 
dustry? 



238 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

8. What were the first efforts made to relieve the conditions among 
the North Sea fishermen ? (Note 4.) 



9. Mention some of the difficulties met as the work progressed. 



10. State the sphere of labor of the Royal National Mission to Deep 
Sea Fishermen. 



1 1 . What is the present equipment of this organization ? 



12. In what branch of the work are many persons in the United 
States particularly interested ? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. How would you compare, for importance, the work for seamen 
with the work for the West? 2. Will the class, if it be in a port city, 
undertake any active support of work for seamen? 3. In what ways 
would it be possible to aid the work along the Labrador and New- 
foundland coasts? 4. Would you say that this work, even when it 
does not result in recorded conversions, is eminently Christian? 5. 
What features of this work make a strong appeal to the heroic elements 
in young men and young women ? 

Mission Gem. " Here is not an occasion for indirections and 
spiritual incantations; it is a plain demand for inspiration which goes 
straight to the heart, a sanctified ingenuity in finding out what is to 
be done, and then a hearty, exuberant doing that." — McAfee. 

Personal Thought. When I review the heroism that marks some of 
God's noblemen and noblewomen, I feel something of a sense of shame 
that my life has been characterized by a dearth of results in the 
advancement of the kingdom. It is time for me to decide now whether 
I shall be among those who " go out and try to do something," or 
among those who " stay at home and wonder why they don't do it 
some other way," ' 



Thirty-seven xhe Children of Israel 239 

Lesson 37. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. Features of 
Christian Work among the Jews. 

Scripture Reading : The Promise of Mercy to Zion. Zech. 1:12 — 2:5. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the conditions which obtain 
in the Jewish communities throughout the world, and the character, 
difficulties and results of Christian missions among the Jews both 
abroad and in this country. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Conditions in the Jewish Communities throughout the World. 

Of the twelve million Jews in the world about three quarters are in 
Europe, and of the European Jews, Russia contains more than half. 
Austria-Hungary contains two millions, Germany over half a million, 
Rumania and the British Isles each about a quarter of a million, 
Turkey, Holland, France and the other European states smaller 
numbers. Less than half a million are found in Asia or in Africa, 
while approximately one and a quarter millions have made their 
home in the United States. From these figures it is seen that the Jews 
are widely though unevenly scattered throughout the world. Their 
distribution has been determined largely by persecution and, less 
frequently, by the favor of governments. Thus as early as 1619, 
when the Jew was drinking his cup of bitterness in almost every 
country of Europe, Holland granted to him the right of citizenship. 
Immediately there was an influx of Jews, Amsterdam became known 
as the New Jerusalem, and to-day the country shelters over a hundred 
thousand of them. 

In Russia they are legally permitted to reside only in certain western 
provinces, sixteen in number, known as the " Pale," where the law 
restricts the number of Jewish male students to ten per cent of the 
whole number of students. Here also persecution and oppression was 
for years so severe as to preserve among the Jews a certain unity of 
ideal; the fellowship of suffering gave rise to a common longing, and 
kept alive the embers of a patriotic nationalism. It seemed to these 
oppressed people, as Zangwill said, that possibly " Pale may be only 
Providence's way of spelling Palestine." 

In Italy under the papacy the Jews suffered oppression for many 
years. Pope Paul IV instituted the Ghetto in Rome. This was a 
small quarter of the city, separated from the rest by walls and gates. 
The narrow and dirty streets ran down to the margin of the Tiber. 
Here all the Jews of Rome were forced to live, nor were they permitted 
outside after nightfall. In 1848 the gates were removed, and in 1870, 



240 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

at the time of the overthrow of the papacy, the Jews were freed from 
their civil disabilities and made citizens of the kingdom. More recently 
the segregation of the Jews has been discontinued. 

In Austria- Hungary as early as 1867 nominal rights of citizenship 
were granted to the Jews, but in reality, the lot of the Jew there, up 
to the present time, has been, as in most papal countries, a most 
unhappy one. In Rumania the laws exclude them from schools, 
from the higher walks of life, and from citizenship. A recent law 
promising full and free citizenship is simply a covert scheme for getting 
their money. They are in a worse condition than aliens, since they 
are forced to bear the burdens of citizenship, such as service in the 
army, without enjoying any of its privileges. 

In Germany, where the Jews have been less oppressed than in most 
other European countries, many have attained high positions in pro- 
fessional and public life. Scarcely a university in Germany that 
does not have one or more of its faculty members from this race. 
In Berlin there are more than a thousand Jewish lawyers and doctors, 
and the Jewish students in the universities proportionately outnumber 
the Germans. England and the United States have long been regarded 
by the Jews as countries of refuge, though even here they have been 
exposed to petty persecution and social ostracism. 

Note 3. Difficulties in Jewish Mission Work. Work for the evan- 
gelization of the Jews is beset with certain peculiar difficulties. 
In the first place, since Judaism preceded Christianity, its adherents 
take a natural, as well as a national, pride in their loyalty to it. The 
native ability of the Jewish race, which the hardest oppression could 
not destroy, has produced a proud and sometimes arrogant spirit. 
Moreover, centuries of oppression under so-called Christian govern- 
ments have made the Jew intensely hostile to all that goes by the 
name of Christian. He has learned from experience that the brother- 
hood which he finds within his own race is more real than any Christian 
brotherhood it has been his lot to know. When, therefore, he drifts 
away from his own faith, he is more likely to become indifferent to all 
religion than friendly to Christianity. 

A second class of difficulties are those which pertain to the Christian 
church and the Christian individual. How many Christians are 
interested in the conversion of the Jew? Are you? Is your church? 
Are any of your Christian associates ? Is the Gentile any more kindly 
disposed to the Jew than the Jew is to the Gentile ? Has not the anti- 
Semitic feeling in Europe been too often aroused by the mere success 
of the wealthy or brilliant Jew, and has it not with peculiar incon- 



Thirty-seven The Children of Israel 241 

sistency vented itself upon the poor Jew? One of the greatest hin- 
drances to the conversion of Israel is the fact that the profession of 
love with which the missionary greets the Jew is not borne out by the 
attitude of the Christian church. 

A third class of difficulties are those which arise from civil prohibi- 
tions. In Russia the state church practically controls the religious 
situation, and strenuously opposes any efforts at religious work by 
bodies other than itself. Missionary work in behalf of the Jew is 
therefore strictly forbidden. In Austria-Hungary Protestant mission 
work of any kind is carried on with great difficulty owing to the opposi- 
tion of the papacy. Even in this country similar difficulties have 
been encountered. In 1819 the Society for the Evangelization of the 
Jews was formed in New York City, and application for a charter of 
incorporation was presented to the legislature. The charter was re- 
fused, on the ground that " the proselytizing of citizens is prohibited 
by the Constitution." A charter was finally obtained, however, 
when the society changed its name to the American Society for 
Ameliorating the Condition of the Jews. When the Jew gets a truer 
understanding of Christianity, and the Christian learns to practise 
it, when the civil governments grant him equal rights with other citi- 
zens, and when his social standing is determined by merit rather than 
by nationality, then Christian missions on his behalf will be more 
fruitful. 

Note 4. Jewish Missions Abroad. Great Britain leads the world 
in the conduct of Christian missions for Jews. Though she has but 
twenty-eight societies, as compared with the forty-five in the United 
States, these societies carry on work at 135 stations and employ almost 
seven hundred laborers, one fourth of whom are Hebrew Christians. 
Of the sixteen European societies, four are in Russia, and three each 
in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. Their work is com- 
paratively small, limited chiefly to their respective countries. Several 
of the British societies, however, carry on work throughout the world. 
Only a small per cent of Jewish missions are denominational, though 
worthy exceptions to denominational indifference are the Presbyterian 
churches of Ireland and Scotland, the Lutheran churches of Germany 
and America, the Episcopal church of England, and the Presbyterian 
church (North) of this country. 

The work of several of the British societies may be briefly mentioned. 
Ridley H. Herschell, a Polish Jew, driven into scepticism in the Uni- 
versity of Berlin, drifted to England, where he was converted by the 
message from a leaf of the New Testament, which a grocer had used 



242 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

as wrapping paper. This Hebrew convert became zealous for the con- 
version of his fellow Jews, toured the continent and preached to the 
Jews of London. He established a Home for Jews in Woolwich and 
another in London. In 1842 he became one of the founders of the 
British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews, 
which is to-day occupying ten European cities, and six English cities, 
together with Tunis and Palestine. The London Society for Promoting 
Christianity amongst the Jews, founded in 1809, mainly through the 
efforts of the Rev. Lewis Way, is in close affiliation with the Church 
of England, by the membership of which it is supported. It carries 
on work in nine English cities, eleven European, seven Asiatic, four 
African fields, and in Montreal and Ottawa. The Mildmay Mission 
to the Jews, founded in 1876, supports itinerating missionaries in 
Great Britain, Europe and 'Africa. A large part of its work has been 
the free distribution of the New Testament among Jews in all countries 
where it works. In Russia it supports six Bible depots, and in London 
maintains the most complete Jewish mission building in the world. 

In Germany, Christian missions to Jews are noted for the prominence 
of their leaders, a number of whom have been university professors. 
The Berlin Society for the Promotion of Christianity among the Jews, 
which reports more than six hundred baptized converts, was founded 
in 1822 largely through the efforts of the eminent and devoted Prof. 
Friedrich Tholuck of the University of Berlin. Another professor 
of the same institution, Dr. Hermann Strack, has for years been 
prominent as editor of Hebrew-Christian publications, as for instance, 
Nathanael, the organ of the Berlin Society, and the Yearbook of the 
Evangelical Missions among the Jews. The impulse for Jewish mis- 
sions in the Lutheran church of Germany was first encouraged and 
then organized by Prof. Franc Delitzsch, of the University of Leipsig. 
After founding what is known as the Central Organization of Saxony, 
in 1871, he translated the New Testament into almost faultless Hebrew, 
in order that a good translation might be available for his kinsmen in 
Germany and other parts of the world. 

In Russia, restrictive legislation makes colportage and Bible depots 
the only feasible means of mission work. The Mildmay Mission 
Bible depots, however, have obtained permission " to explain the 
nature of the book " and this practically gives the colporteur the 
opportunity to preach the Gospel. 

In papal and Mohammedan countries, Jewish missions are con- 
ducted with great difficulty and in the face of active hostility. Never- 
theless, the work of the Free Church of Scotland established in Austria- 



Thirty-seven The Children of Israel 243 

Hungary approximately seventy-five years ago has produced a worthy 
list of converts of whom are the noted commentator Adolph Saphir, 
whose family was the firstfruits of the mission, Dr. Alfred Edersheim, 
the celebrated author, and G. R. Lederer, a well-known figure in 
American missions to the Jews by reason of his fruitful service in 
New York City. In Italy the papacy, prior to its downfall, attempted 
to convert the Jews by force, demanding of the Ghetto residents that 
they provide a Jew each year for public baptism — " an indignity 
which the Jews shrewdly sought to minimize by presenting the same 
Jew on several occasions." The impression created upon the Jewish 
mind by papal Christianity has been very unfavorable to Protestant 
missions for Jews in Catholic countries. 

Note 5. Jewish Missions in the United States. The forty-five 
societies in the United States maintain work at forty-eight stations 
2nd use 147 laborers, of whom one third are Hebrew Christians. It 
will be seen from these figures that the societies are generally small, 
and limit their work to one mission station. Nine of them are in 
New York City, which with its 350,000 Hebrews is the greatest Jewish 
center of the world; and four of them are located in Chicago. No 
large movement in behalf of the evangelization of the Jews has been 
set on foot and, though many organizations have been at work, the 
results have been meagre as compared with the British work. Apart 
from one station in Russia, maintained by a Lutheran organization, 
no foreign work is attempted by the American societies; though 
some of the work both of the foreign and the home mission societies 
of the various denominations is for Jews. The task as presented in 
New York is too vast for the forces engaged in it. One ward in 
Brooklyn having a population of twenty thousand Jews has not a 
single Protestant church or mission, while in one Jewish section of 
Manhattan, where there are 221,000 Jews, there is an average of but 
one Protestant church to each 22,000 Jews. 

The work for Jews has been carried on with so little effort at co- 
operation and proper division of territory that the greatest inequalities 
with respect to the proportionate distribution of missionaries exists. 
Russia has only one missionary to each 650,000 Jews while for every 
fifty thousand Jews in their population Holland has one missionary, 
France three, the United States four, Great Britain thirty-one, and 
Palestine thirty-four. The great need is for Christian churches to 
undertake an aggressive work, and by proper organization and equable 
division of forces, place the entire movement for the salvation of Israel 
upon a firm basis. Were the great denominations to organize Jewish 



244 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



departments in their home mission work, they might by earnest 
endeavors bring the Jew to realize that the Christian church is in- 
terested in his spiritual welfare. The debt of the Christian to the Jew 
will never be adequately discharged until they stand together as 
brothers in the household of faith. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(z) Mission work among Jewish women. Yearbook of the Evan- 
gelical Missions among the Jews, pp. 80-92. (2) Historical review 
of missions to Jews. Bliss: Encyclopedia of Missions, pp. 351-358. 
(3) A sketch of Jewish missions throughout the world. Thompson: 
A Century of Jewish Missions. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What features combined in an earlier day to make mission work 
among seamen unattractive? 2. Tell what you can of work in their 
behalf in our port cities. 3. In what way does the Young Men's 
Christian Association work for men of the navy? 4. Describe the 
North Sea work of the Royal National Mission. 5. What is the nature 
of Dr. Grenfell's work along the Labrador coast? 6. What is the 
subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1 . About how many Jews are there in the world ? What is their geo- 
graphical distribution ? (Note 2.) 



2. What has been an important factor in determining this distribu- 
tion? 



3. Describe the state of the Jews in Russia; in Italy; in Austria- 
Hungary; in Germany; in Great Britain and the United States. 



4. What difficulties in Jewish mission work arise from the Jewish 
side? (Note 3.) 



5. What difficulties in Jewish mission work arise from the Christian 
side ? 



Thirty-seven jke Children of Israel 245 

6. Mention other difficulties which the missionary to the Jews 
frequently encounters. 



7. In what countries do Jewish missionary societies nourish? (Note 
4.) 



8. What can you say of the British Society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel among the Jews ? 



9. Tell what you can of any other English missions to the Jews. 



10. Mention some features of the work in Germany. 



11. Tell something of the work in Russia ; in papal lands. 



12. What may be said about Jewish missionary efforts in this 
country? (Note 5.) 



13. What improvements would you suggest in the general conduct 
of missions for Jews throughout the world? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What has been the usual order of Christian missions, to Jew first 
and Gentile second, or Gentile first and Jew second? How does this 
compare with the teachings of Christ and the practice of Paul ? What 



246 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

place should Jewish missions hold in a Christian dispensation ? 2. How 
might the Christian denominations, as such, manifest an interest in 
the evangelization of the Jews? 3. What considerations weigh 
against the employment of Hebrew Christians as missionaries? What, 
in favor? 4. Should Hebrew Christians be required to give up keeping 
the laws of Judaism? Why? 5. Would you rather contribute to the 
Jewish mission work of an individual or to that of an organization? 
6. Why does the Christian church owe a debt of gratitude to the Jews? 

Mission Gem. " The day is short, the work is vast, the reward 
is great, the Master urges." — The Talmud. 

Personal Thought. If Christ is truly in me, then I know no man 
any more as Jew or Gentile, but every man as brother. If my life invali- 
dates this conclusion, of what real value is my Christian profession ? 



Lesson 38. UNEVANGELIZED AREAS. Vast Regions yet 
Unreached by Christian Forces. 

Scripture Reading: The Mind of Christ. Phil. 2: 1-11. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To indicate the degree of religious 
destitution in our own country, the extent of unoccupied territory 
both within and outside of mission fields, and some of the conditions 
which hinder complete occupancy. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Religious Destitution in our own Country. Christian 
Americans delight to boast that they live in a Christian land. As far 
as American life and institutions reflect Christian ideals, and the 
civilization which we enjoy is the legitimate fruit of Christianity, so 
far the boast may be made with truth. But if by " Christian land " 
is meant that the population is almost wholly allied with the Christian 
movement, then the boast is idle and untrue. 

In our New England states, and in many parts of New York and 
Pennsylvania, thousands live so far removed from any church that 
attendance upon religious service is practically impossible. In other 
communities, usually in more or less remote and thinly settled places, 
where adverse climatic conditions prevail during part of the year, 
it is feasible to hold services for a limited period only. In such com- 
munities the people have the privilege of attending church and Sunday 
school only four or six months each year. Thus there are communities 



Thirty-eight Utievangelized Areas 247 

even in the most thickly settled states where no ample provision is 
made for religious teaching. 

But in the Western and Southern states religious destitution is 
much greater. Even if all towns and villages were provided with 
churches, their influence does not always extend over the large in- 
tervening tracts. To be sure, these interurban spaces are thinly 
settled, but in the aggregate they represent not only thousands of 
square miles of territory, but thousands of families without religious 
privileges. In addition to the interurban spaces, many Western 
towns and villages of between one hundred and fifty and one thousand 
inhabitants have not a church or Sunday school. In one state over 
five hundred post office communities have no Christian services. 
The report of one of our larger denominations states that in the entire 
West there are between four and five thousand such places, and that 
more than a thousand of them are fair-sized towns and villages. 
Even in the middle West, similar conditions exist. The center of 
Cook County, Illinois, in which Chicago is situated, is said to be " all 
solid Bohemian farms. No Christian work is being done among these 
people except among the few that are located in the towns." This 
county is reputed to be the strongest infidel center in the United 
States. 

A home mission secretary reports that groups of Christian people 
in eighteen towns where there is no church building are appealing for 
funds in order that they may build places of worship ; but he adds with a 
touch of pathos that all these requests must be refused. Eight coun- 
ties of Louisiana are without a Protestant church. Similar conditions 
prevail in several other states. 

Among the Indian tribes, also, there are groups and reservations 
as yet untouched by the Gospel. The most recent figures show that 
more than forty bands and tribes in the United States are wholly 
destitute of Christian opportunities, to say nothing of the utter in- 
adequacy of provision made for some of the larger tribes (see Lesson 35, 
Note 4). 

Note 3. Unevangelized Areas within Foreign Mission Fields. In 

the foreign field the situation is much like that in our own country, 
except that the mission stations are much farther apart. The situa- 
tion in China is typical of all foreign fields. A glance at any one of the 
provinces regarded as an " occupied field " shows that wide areas, in 
many instances whole prefectures, or counties, or even several con- 
tiguous prefectures, with large cities and towns, do not contain a 
single Christian mission station. The province of Anhwei, for example, 



248 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



which contains twenty-six mission stations in nineteen cities, well 
scattered throughout the province, seems to be fairly well supplied 
with mission workers. Yet it has two prefectures with an aggregate 
area of over five thousand square miles, and a population of more 
than two and a quarter millions, without any provision for missionary 
work. Another prefecture of this province, Hweichow, almost equally 
large, has a population of three and a half millions. In this pre- 
fecture two missionaries are engaged. The district is technically 
" occupied," but, under such conditions, the term means almost 
nothing. 

In Japan, where the average population per missionary is sixty- 
six thousand, one district containing almost a million people is without 
the Gospel, and another district, with one and a quarter millions of 
people, has only one missionary — a lone woman. Other districts are 
almost as poorly provided for, yet Japan is regarded as " occupied." 

From India comes the same story of large unoccupied areas between 
the stations. Yet the situation in China, Japan, and India, is far 
better than in South America and Africa. 

Note 4. Unevangelized Areas outside of Foreign Mission Fields. 

Many persons have an idea that all nations have now heard the Gospel. 
But this is not so. A partial list of the fields as yet uncared for by 
Protestant Christianity gives a total population of over 113,000,000. 
The northern half of Manchuria, Chinese Turkistan, Thibet, Bhutan 
and Nepal, Afghanistan, and Russian Turkistan represent an area 
equivalent .to that of the United States and a population estimated 
at twenty-six millions. In none of these, except the last, is there a 
single missionary. The unoccupied territory of central Africa is said 
to have a population of fully seventy millions. Three provinces in 
Arabia, with a population of three millions, have not a single mis- 
sionary. In a section of Country lying east of the Jordan there are 
550,000 people with no missionary; in the Madeira Archipelago are 
two millions and no missionary, and on the Malay Peninsula another 
million is similarly neglected. Still other millions are unprovided 
with the Gospel in South America. In most of these fields the Bible 
societies are doing what they can to prepare the way for the missionary. 
These figures show that Christianity still has abundant territory 
to occupy. When it is remembered that the sphere of influence and 
the occupied territory of the Christian church has probably been 
largely overestimated, the figures given above will be recognized as 
conservative. The church is only beginning to see the magnitude 
of her problem. The conquering of new territory, the efficient occupa- 



Thirty-eight Unevangelized Areas 249 

tion of territory already being worked — for many stations have a 
pitifully insufficient force — and the enlargement of Christian activity 
at home, are lines along which the new missionary impulse should 
develop. 

Note 5. Why are these Fields Unevangelized? Doubtless the 
question has suggested itself: Are the difficulties so great that more 
rapid progress in world evangelization is impossible? The answer 
is to be found, in part at least, in a consideration of those features 
and conditions which serve as hindrances to missionary progress. 

In the home field, the brunt of Christian expansion falls on our 
denominational home mission boards. When they are asked to occupy 
new territory or build a church or pay the salary of a pastor, their 
answer in multitudes of cases is, We are unable to do it. The task 
would be hopeless in the hands of men of less courage. The only 
remedy for the home situation is for the church to recognize that she 
must save America, through large offerings of money and of men. 

On the foreign field a serious difficulty is presented by the many 
languages. This, however, is considerably less to-day in occupied 
fields than at first, when, as in many cases, the languages had not 
even been reduced to writing. There have been few more stupendous 
tasks undertaken than the printing of the Bible in Chinese characters — 
at one time seriously regarded as impossible. The languages of some 
of the unoccupied regions are unknown, and many of them doubtless 
will have to be reduced to writing before headway can be made in 
evangelization. This, however, presents no greater difficulty than 
has been overcome in many previous instances. 

A second difficulty, encountered especially on fields already occu- 
pied, is found in revivals of native faiths. Thus throughout China 
and Japan the effort to rehabilitate Confucianism, Buddhism, and 
Shintoism has thrown a new barrier across the path of Christian 
progress. The same is true of the pan-Islam movement in Moham- 
medan lands. 

Still another difficulty is presented by the savagery which prevails 
in the interior of Africa, in the mountainous regions of Nepal and 
Bhutan, and in the plateaus of central Asia. The report not infre- 
quently comes from the missionary that a trip to the interior came 
to an end when the guides or carriers refused to advance further for 
fear of the hostile tribes ahead. This difficulty is overcome only 
by the missionary's exercise of extreme caution and tact as he pushes 
into new territory. 

In many countries there are civic prohibitions against a proclamation 



250 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

of the Gospel. Such countries are found on every continent except 
North America. These prohibitions will in time cease to be effective, 
as was the case with the edict against Christianity in Japan, but so 
long as they remain in force they make Christian work very difficult. 

All these hindrances, however, are of secondary importance, and 
none of them is insuperable. But there is a hindrance that inheres 
in the church herself, and which, so long as it remains, will prove an 
effective barrier to Christian conquest, viz., a widespread lack of zeal 
and ardor for the advent of God's kingdom. When the church is 
aroused to her task all other hindrances disappear. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) China as a missionary field. Broomhall: The Chinese Empire, 
and Atlas of the Chinese Empire. (2) Unoccupied fields. Beach: 
Geography and Atlas of Protestant Missions, vol. i, ch. 19; also, 
Report of the Commission on Carrying the Gospel to All the World, 
submitted to the Edinburgh Conference of June, 1910. (3) The relig- 
ious needs of our own country. See current numbers of denominational 
home mission periodicals. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the condition of the Jews in Europe and other foreign 
countries? 2. How do these conditions compare with the situation 
of Jews in America? 3. What are the British missionary societies 
doing for the Jews ? 4. How does the work of the American societies 
compare with that of the British? 5. Would you favor an increase 
of denominational interest in the evangelization of the Jews ? 6. What 
is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. In what sense is it correct to speak of America as a Christian 
land? (Note 2.) 



2. In what sense is it fair to say that even the best sections of our 
country are not evangelized? 



3. Tell what you can of religious destitution in the South and West. 



Thirty-eight Unevangelized Areas 251 

4. Have the Indian tribes been evangelized? 

5. Explain what we mean by " occupied " fields. (Note 3.) 



6. Describe the extent to which China, for example, has been 
brought into actual contact with the Gospel. 



7. Compare Africa with China and Japan in respect to occupancy. 



8. What regions lie wholly outside the fields of missionary endeavor? 
(Note 4.) 



9. How large a total population have these fields? 



10. Mention three lines along which the new missionary impulse 
of the church should develop. 



11. What prevents a more thorough evangelization of the home 
field? (Note 5.) 



12. Mention some of the obstacles to evangelization encountered in 
the foreign fields. 



252 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

13. What do you regard as the greatest hindrance to world evangeli- 
zation ? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Is it fair to ask the Christian churches of the Eastern states to 
help in building churches and supporting pastors in our Western 
states? Why? 2. Is the community in which this class is located 
occupied? Is it evangelized? What still needs to be done for its 
spiritual betterment? How is this need related to you? 3. Could 
the Christian church do more for world evangelization than it is doing? 
Could your church? Could you? 4. Have some communities too 
many churches? How is this situation related to the problem of 
Christian expansion? 5. How can the class contribute toward the 
solution of the situation presented by this lesson ? 

Mission Gem. " To have the mind of Christ is to know no rest in 
the presence of sin and sorrow until God's day breaks, and His kingdom 
is established." — G. Campbell Morgan. 

Personal Thought. Christ's commission to His disciples of all 
times and places is the evangelization of the world. If I am one of His 
disciples, then this is my commission, and it becomes my personal 
concern to advance His kingdom. This one thing I must do, or else 
I fail in that which my Master has given me to do. Am I true to my 
commission? 



Lesson 39. CHRISTIANITY IN THE WESTERN HEMI- 
SPHERE. A Review of American Missions. 

Scripture Reading: The Program of the Kingdom's Extension. Lu. 24:44-49. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To consider some of the outstanding 
features of missionary work on the American continent as presented 
in the last twelve lessons. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Summary of the Preceding Twelve Lessons. In the twelve 

preceding studies interest has centered about missionary work on the 
American continent. In South America we noted conditions com- 
parable to those in scantily occupied foreign fields. The missionaries 
must use a foreign language, their stations are few and far apart, 
hostility to the work is often manifested by the populace, sometimes 
by the government, and in some fields by the Catholic church. The 
educational work is eminently successful and, because of its acceptabil- 



Thirty-nine Christianity in the Western Hemisphere 253 

ity to the people generally, is proving an important factor in the gradual 
development of the countries and the improvement of the people. 
In Mexico we found a country whose government is not hostile to 
Protestant missionary work. Yet the prevailing misconception of 
the religious life is such that the people are deterred from attending 
the mission services. On the whole, however, the work is encouraging, 
but sadly needs an enlargement of the forces. Ten years of work in 
Cuba has brought about remarkable changes in some places. Educa- 
tional and evangelistic work are both being well developed in spite 
of the bitter hostility of the Catholics, who, by insisting that Catholi- 
cism is synonymous with patriotism, imply that acceptance of Protes- 
tantism is disloyalty to the country. This argument is losing its 
effectiveness, since the Protestants have shown themselves for ten 
years to be among the most patriotic residents of the island. In 
Porto Rico and the Philippines we noted that the work is especially 
encouraging, a spirit of earnest evangelism prevailing in these fields. 
In the Philippines this feature is especially marked. Ten years ago 
the beginning — " to-day the islands are dotted with well organized 
and in many cases self-supporting congregations, totaling some 
hundred thousand members." The success and acceptability of the 
industrial work, in several instances commended by the government, 
should not be forgotten. 

Within the United States the prominent features of the religious 
situation are the negro problem of the South, the neglected people of 
the Appalachian mountains, the problems created by immigration, 
the unchurched people of our cities, and the unreached settlers of our 
expanding West. These constitute five demands upon the Christian 
church of America for an enlargement of its gifts and its service in 
order that the country. may be in fact as well as in name a Christian 
land. 

The three studies concerning the men of the sea, the children of 
Israel, and unevangelized areas pertain only in part to America. So 
far as these interests touch us they should receive the attention and 
hearty assistance of our churches. 

Note 3. Protestant Missions and Roman Catholicism. In South 
America, Mexico, Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines, the entire 
missionary enterprise is affected, and the very nature of the work 
largely determined, by the presence of Roman Catholicism. Two 
topics worthy of further consideration are the attitude of the Roman 
church toward Protestant missions and the justification of missionary 
work in Latin America and the Philippines. 



254 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Wherever Protestant missions are established in Roman Catholic 
lands, the resident priests antagonize the work at every point. This 
hostility sometimes appears as governmental opposition, where the 
priest has sought civil interference in the work; sometimes as tirades 
against the work and slanders against the workers, uttered from the 
pulpit and printed in newspapers and pamphlets; sometimes as mob 
violence directed against the property of the mission or the person 
of the missionary, with the priest occasionally participating. Of 
these forms of hostility scurrilous abuse is the most common, since 
the priests know of no other way to defend their teachings and practices. 

These teachings and practices constitute the chief apologetic for 
Protestant mission work in Latin America. The vile and immoral 
lives of many of the priests, and the indifference to the spiritual life 
on the part of most, if not all, have a blighting effect upon the populace. 
After four centuries of Roman occupation, these countries are notori- 
ously corrupt, the people are ignorant of the Gospel, given over to saint 
worship, idolatry, sensuous pleasures and gross immorality. Apart 
from all doctrinal differences between Romanism and Protestantism, 
such conditions constitute a sufficient justification for Protestant 
missionary endeavors. 

Note 4. New Tasks on the Home Field. Three studies during this 
quarter have dealt with special problems of home missions, viz., the 
immigrants, the cities, and the West. These problems have arisen 
out of recent industrial conditions which have created a demand for 
a vast army of laborers and artisans from other lands. The assurance 
of a weekly wage, the desire to become a trained worker in shop or 
mill, and the apparent expediency of settling where work may be 
readily obtained, have tended to crowd people into the cities. Many, 
however, both the foreigner and the American-born, have felt the 
attraction of the West with its incalculable riches. 

All these developments have brought the churches face to face 
with new tasks. A hundred years ago the chief work of the churches 
was to conserve the spiritual interests of communities already strongly 
religious. To-day it is to Christianize communities which by the 
incoming of foreigners have become largely non-Christian. The church 
in preaching the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man must 
substantiate its message by reverence toward God and brotherly 
kindness and sympathy toward all men. Whereas the church has 
been preaching the Gospel for years, the new task created by new 
conditions is that the church shall live the Gospel in situations that 
constitute a real test of its power. This is the only means by which 



Thirty-nine Christianity in the Western Hemisphere 255 

the alien multitudes, so different from Americans in manners, customs 
and ideals, can be inspired with loyalty to our country and our Christ. 

The attainment of this end is a difficult but not insurmountable 
task. Many of those with whom these problems deal come to America 
with distorted ideas of religion and with bitter hatred of churches 
that to them have stood only for oppression and persecution, and in 
countless cases this hatred descends to the children born in this country. 
But even after the immigrant has reached our shores innumerable 
forces tend to destroy his respect for America and any latent desire 
for religion. He quickly discovers how much of his dream of America 
was illusion. His boss in the factory shows no consideration, in many 
occupations he finds that small valuation is placed upon his life or 
his comfort, and in numerous public institutions and hotels he is an 
unwelcome visitor. When he sees himself regarded as an inferior 
and socially ostracised, he soon loses his early ardor for America. 

Furthermore, the church has done little to counteract this im- 
pression. She has neglected the problem until to-day she stands 
aghast at its dimensions and complexity. This neglect has not escaped 
the observation of the foreigner, who interprets it as a warning against 
intruding where he is not wanted. To be perfectly frank, in most 
churches the foreigner is not welcomed, though he may be tolerated. 
This aloofness of the average Christian leads the foreigner to distrust 
his profession of brotherhood, and despise his creed. The foreigner 
must be convinced of the reality of Christianity by seeing and feeling 
the reality of it. One of the church's new tasks at home is to convince 
the alien that her profession and her creed are true. When this has 
been done the religious problems presented in the immigrants, the 
cities, and the West will have been largely solved. 

Suggestions for Class Discussion. 

1. Extent to which South American Catholicism can be identified 
with Christianity. 

2. How largely Protestant missions should be credited with the 
improving conditions in South America. 

3. Respects in which the government is unable to accomplish the 
work of the church in the Philippines. 

4. Whether Cuba or Porto Rico should enlist the larger interest of 
the church. 

5. What the responsibility of the church is for the improvement of 
the negro. 

6. Whether the problem of the Southern highlands is primarily 
economic or religious. 

7. The extent to which immigrants are welcomed in America. 



256 The Conquering Christ 

8. How the attitude of the average American Christian is likely 
to impress the alien. 

9. Whether Jewish missions are receiving sufficient denominational 
support. 

10. Whether home missions are as imperative as foreign missions. 

Mission Gem. " Deeper than the need for men; deeper far than 
the need for money; aye, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless 
life, is need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer." — 
Robert E. Speer. 

Personal Thought. The cry of human need and the voice of God 
are one. The dire needs experienced by multitudes of men and 
women on the American continent are so many opportunities for me 
to serve in the advancement of the kingdom. In the work near my 
own home this service is not easy; it is a real struggle, both physical 
and spiritual. Nevertheless, 

" The Holy Supper is kept, indeed, 
In whatso we share with another's need; 
Not what we give, but what we share, 
For the gift without the giver is bare ; 
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three, 
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me." 



PART III 

Principles of Missionary Practice and Fruits of 
Christian Conquest 

i. Principles of Missionary Practice 



Lesson 40. MISSIONARY PREACHING. The Evangelistic 
Message and Method. 

Scripture Reading: The Pre-eminence of the Son. Col. 1:9-20. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the character, the methods, 
the difficulties and some of the fruits of evangelistic preaching. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Evangelism a Spiritual Task. The primary work of mis- 
sions is evangelization. Many persons interpret the missionary's 
task as the teaching of ethics, the proclamation of a moral code, the 
introduction of a modern educational system, or the civilizing of pag?m 
and untutored peoples. Now, although these things may contribute 
to social progress, they do not constitute evangelism. Evangelization 
is a spiritual task which has to do with the inner workings and im- 
pulses of the heart. The transformation of character which the mis- 
sionary seeks to bring about is based on the conviction that out of the 
heart are the issues of life. Take away the need of a spiritual regenera- 
tion and there is no longer a need for missionary ministrations. If 
the heathen world does not need a new heart, then non-Christian school 
teachers, artizans and engineers could well displace the missionaries 
of India, China, Burma and South America. The primary need of 
every non-Christian section of the world is not civilization but the 
power of a new spiritual experience. 

But, it may be asked, is evangelism nothing more than this? Does 
it not include educational and medical enterprises as well as spiritual 
teaching? The answer is that these things may be auxiliaries in the 
work or they may be results of it, but their establishment is not in 
itself evangelism. Evangelism is the preaching of the Gospel of salva- 
tion by faith, atonement in Christ, and forgiveness through repentance. 
Evangelism convicts of sin, makes clear the error of heathen ideals and 
pagan customs, points out the inability of unaided human effort to at- 
tain personal righteousness, and presents Christ as the sole Redeemer. 
This is a new message in the heathen world, and its enunciation arouses 
mingled surprise, joy and opposition. In many respects it runs coun- 

257 



258 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



ter to long cherished beliefs and practices, as when it denies the value 
of merit making, and the power of the idols; or threatens the stability 
of a social order, like the caste system of India; on the other hand, it 
frequently meets universal longings, as when it presents God as a 
loving Father, and holds out forgiveness of sin on the ground of sincere 
repentance. The missionary is satisfied that, if the Gospel he presents 
finds acceptance, it will sooner or later revolutionize the social, in- 
dustrial and civil life of the converts; and the evangelization of the 
world will express itself in a world-wide social, economic and civic 
redemption no less revolutionary than the inward experiences of con- 
version. Evangelism aims at the transformation of society through 
the antecedent transformation of the individual. 

Note 3. Some Difficulties of Evangelism. Of all work undertaken 
on the mission field, evangelism is probably the most difficult. Men do 
not relish interference with long established beliefs or customs. They 
are willing to have their bodies healed, to welcome opportunities for 
study, and to know the secret of Occidental success, but they are not 
willing to have their social ideals turned topsy-turvy, to be shown 
the folly of their age-long practices, and to undergo a renewal of their 
inner lives. Hence the missionary bent upon evangelistic effort is 
tempted to desert it for work which is more readily accepted. A 
hospital may collect a crowd of needy natives inside a month, but the 
preacher must sometimes labor in a given field for years before a single 
native is won. And then, too, the physical or mental tasks are 
generally discharged more readily than are the spiritual; the latter 
take hold on the deepest springs of the missionary's nature and de- 
mand an outpouring of his own self as does no other work. 

Another difficulty which the evangelist encounters is that of the 
native mold of thought. The Orient does not think as does the Occi- 
dent. To the Oriental, analogies and figures of speech carry more 
weight than does logic, but to the Occidental, logic is the more convin- 
cing. Because of this difference in mental attitude the Oriental can 
hold in mind at one and the same time two propositions which, logically, 
are mutually exclusive, and can remain wholly uninfluenced and un- 
convinced by faultless logic. Under these conditions the missionary, 
unfamiliar with the daily life and the rhetorical figures of the Orient, 
frequently encounters real difficulty when he attempts to present the 
Gospel in a manner accommodated to the native mode of thought. 
Few missionaries ever learn to speak the native language as if it were 
their mother tongue. The halting utterance, the alien accent, the 
evident unfamiliarity with native forms of speech, figures and even 



Fartl J Missionary Preaching 259 

humor, all constitute a barrier not easily overcome. It is said that 
there are less than six missionaries in Japan, out of almost a thousand, 
whom the Japanese hear with as much pleasure as they do their native 
preachers. When we reflect upon the difficulty we have in understand- 
ing a foreigner who speaks English imperfectly, we can the more 
readily appreciate what a barrier imperfect speech may become to the 
acceptance of the message. 

Note 4. Methods of Evangelism. The methods by which the mis- 
sionary seeks to make his message known are all important to the suc- 
cess of the work. In this lesson we may omit reference to the hospital 
and college as aids to evangelism, and confine ourselves to evangelistic 
preaching alone. Not the least important consideration is where 
shall the missionary preach? There are certain formal preaching 
places in connection with the missions. These are the buildings of 
the mission compound, the outstations, the native churches, and 
preaching halls in strategic locations, and even aboard boats and 
Gospel ships. In some fields one, in other fields another of these places 
proves best adapted to the work. But in all fields some of the best 
evangelistic work is not the formal sort, but the informal, such as the 
missionary takes up when he makes a tour among the surrounding 
villages, or meets informally with an inquirer or holds an open-air 
service, where, before a chance audience, he sows the seed of life in the 
hope that it will bring forth an eternal fruitage. In itinerant work 
the most favorable places are the villages and smaller towns, or the 
outskirts of the larger cities. Marketplaces, crowded thoroughfares, 
and the rendezvous of peddlers and hucksters are generally avoided, 
as the traffic and noise forbids close attention to the discourse and the 
missionary might give offense through interference with business. 
But in the cool of the evening, on the village green or under the great 
tree which may mark the meeting-place of the townsmen, the mis- 
sionary is generally assured of an attentive and interested audience. 
By personal visits to the homes, and wayside talks with such as he 
knows are sincerely interested in the Gospel, he is not infrequently 
rewarded with some of the choicest fruits of all his work. 

In view of the nature and difficulties of evangelism, a second ques- 
tion respecting its method is, What kind of men should be sent as 
evangelists? Certainly they should be men of more than ordinary 
spiritual gifts, whose chief concern is to win other men to Christ. They 
must be men physically strong, for otherwise the exactions and 
strain of evangelistic work cannot be endured. Moreover, they must 
be men of strong character and forceful personality. In short, they 



260 



The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



should be the best men the Christian church has — not the best she can 
afford — she must afford her best. Those men whom the church can 
least spare from home are the very ones most needed abroad. 

Thus far we have spoken as though the foreign missionary were 

the sole evangelist. 
But in reality the 
most effective preach- 
er has usually been 
the trained native. 
The Bible men who 
go out by two and 
two for short tours 
into the country, the 
native pastors, and 
the Bible women who 
work as itinerant 
Bible teachers among 
the native women. 




Chinese Bible Women. 



are invaluable agents in promoting evangelistic work. 

Finally, the printed page is an efficient aid in the spread of the 
Gospel. Bible societies advocate the distribution of the Scriptures, 
practically without comment or preaching, trusting to the Scriptures 
themselves for making a change of heart in the reader. In addition 
to the Scriptures, numerous tracts have been found helpful, but con- 
troversial writings and doctrinal discussions are seldom serviceable. 
In the literature, as in the spoken discourse, the choice of appropriate 
subjects, the use of happy illustration taken from the daily life of the 
natives, and respectful deference to their own history and literature, 
tend to increase the acceptability of the Gospel. 

Note 5. Fruits of Evangelism. Many engaged in missionary work 
hold that the Great Commission is itself ample justification for all the 
expenditures of money and men which the enterprise requires. Quite 
naturally, however, many others ask, Does it pay? Setting aside at 
present all reference to the educational and immediately social work 
of missions, we shall endeavor to answer the question solely by refer- 
ence to the fruits of evangelism. 

In distinction from other forms of missionary labor, evangelism is 
directly related to the most vital concerns of the individual. It con- 
cerns itself with the present and eternal welfare of human souls. No 
task can be more sublime. The fruits of evangelism are seen in the 
changed individual, in the face once darkened by sin now radiant 



Fort v Missionary Preaching 261 

with light, in the once cruel heart now tender and gracious and kind. 
Love and active sympathy have displaced a careless indifference to the 
suffering of others. This change is due, not to secular schooling nor the 
" advance of civilization," but to the entrance of the Gospel message 
into the heart and life. Such a change in individual outlook, in ideal, 
and service for others cannot be valued in terms of dollars and cents; 
but there should be no hesitancy in affirming most emphatically that 
it pays, no matter what the cost. 

There is also a fruit of evangelism which expresses itself in the com- 
munity life and should not be overlooked. The spiritual bondage 
of the heathen world is indescribable. Superstition, ignorance, and 
priestcraft suppress all aspirations and ideals. The very atmosphere 
of a Christian village is in sharp contrast to that of a heathen village. 
The houses are better built, the family as a social institution is held in 
greater respect, the people are better clothed and more industrious, 
wayside greetings, even, take on a more cheerful note, and the blight- 
ing marks of drink, or opium, or other evil custom are less in evidence. 
As a single step in the process of civilization, this result of proclaiming 
the Gospel is beyond all valuation. Again, it affords ample justifica- 
tion for maintaining that evangelistic work pays. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) The heathen world with which the evangelist comes into con- 
tact. Dennis : Christian Missions and Social Progress, vol. i, pp. 73- 
339. (2) The work and the spirit of the missionary. Brown : Why 
and How of Foreign Missions, chs. 5, 8. (3) Missions as a spiritual 
enterprise. Ellis : Men and Missions, ch. 20. (4) Gospel preaching. 
Gibson: Mission Problems and Mission Methods in South China, 
chs. 1, 6. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. With what phases of missionary work have the previous thirteen 
lessons dealt? 2. How do you regard the opportunities of South 
America for mission work ? 3. Why should home missions be regarded 
as important ? 4. How are home missions related to foreign missions ? 
How do they react one upon the other? o. What is the church's 
problem in the city? 6. With what general subjects are we to deal 
in the present and following lessons? 7. What is the title of to-day's 
lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is the primary work of missions ? (Note 2.) 



262 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

2. How is evangelism related to other forms of missionary work? 

3. What does evangelism seek to accomplish ? 



4. Mention some particulars in which the Gospel surpasses heathen 
ideals. 



5. How does the spiritual character of evangelism make its presenta- 
tion difficult? (Note 3.) 



6. Explain the difficulty presented to the missionary by the differ- 
ence between Occidental and Oriental modes of thought. 

7. What places are suitable for missionary preaching? (Note 4.) 



8. What kind of men should be chosen for evangelistic work ? 



9. What spiritual and personal changes are wrought in the converts 
by evangelism ? (Note 5.) 



10. How does evangelization affect the social life of former heathen 
communities ? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What is there in Christianity which gives it its moral force? 2. 
What do you regard as the most encouraging feature of the evangel- 
istic work? 3. What value do you assign to Christian literature as 



Forty-one The Power of Medical Missions 263 

an evangelizing agency? 4. What sores of the heathen world is the 
Gospel calculated to cure ? 

Mission Gem. " The missionary enterprise is primarily and es- 
sentially and finally spiritual. ... Its ultimate objective is the con- 
version of individual men and women to the Gospel of Jesus Christ." — 
William T. Ellis. 

Personal Thought. Whatever my life-work may be, it should be 
such that it might appropriately be laid at Jesus' feet, an offering to 
Him. It may be a business career, it may be a secular profession, or it 
may be a form of distinctively religious work, but in any case it should 
be so under the guidance of Christ as to be a sacred and a holy enter- 
prise. If I live such a life, I shall preach a sermon no less effective 
than the words of a trained evangelist. My life shall be a living 
sermon. 



Lesson 41. THE POWER OF MEDICAL MISSIONS. Heal- 
ing the Body as Well as the Soul. 

Scripture Reading: Christ as the Great Physician. Lu. 4:31-41. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To indicate how medical work is 
a natural expression of the missionary spirit, what it has achieved on 
the mission field, and what equipment is necessary for the missionary 
physician. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Medical Work and the Missionary Spirit. The close con- 
nection between religion and health has attracted the attention of 
eminent physicians, psychologists and ministers. While certain peo- 
ple carry the theory to unwarrantable extremes, as when they deny 
the actuality of pain, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that mental 
states and bodily conditions are vitally interrelated. To the truth 
of this statement almost every physician and minister can testify. 
Christ gave abundant evidence that in His own thought He related 
the two, since a mere desire to relieve suffering does not entirely ex- 
plain the significance of His cures. Beyond the physical cure effected, 
there appears to have been some spiritual condition with which the 
Master sought to deal. Just how medicine and religion are related is 
not yet clear, but the widespread recognition accorded the fact is evi- 
dent in a number of recent movements. 

Moreover, few forms of service better exemplify the humanitarian 
spirit of Christianity than that of medical treatment of the sick and 
care of the suffering. Where a gospel of love is preached, a gospel of 
action should be lived. " Inasmuch as unto these " is still the test 



264 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



of loyalty to Jesus. Medical missions become a striking exemplifica- 
tion of the Christian ideal of service, and in their disregard of all bar- 
riers to the largest and freest work for human welfare, they proclaim 
the democratic spirit of the religion they represent. If the mission 
forces, strong and well organized as they are, should neglect the 
physical and temporal welfare of their spiritual charges, they might 
well be suspected of insincerity. 

A third consideration which urges the employment of medical agen- 
cies in missionary work is that they furnish a valuable auxiliary to 
evangelistic labors. Many a community has been opened for the 
Gospel " at the point of a lancet," and thousands of hearts have ac- 
cepted the Gospel message from the lips of a ministering physician. 
The power of medical missions has been most effectually demonstrated 
among people who otherwise would have had little or nothing to do 
with the Christian religion. In Mohammedan lands, especially, where 
opposition to all Christian preaching is violent, the medical missionary 
is practically the only representative of our mission forces who is 
acceptable to the people. As an auxiliary to evangelism, medical 
missions also break down superstition, belief in witches,- gnomes, and 
demons, and finally supersede the pernicious practices of the native 
doctors. 

Note 3. Native Remedies in Heathen Lands. The welcome with 
which missionary physicians are greeted in heathen lands is due to the 
inefficiency of native doctors. And no wonder, considering the rem- 
edies they prescribe. Rev. G. E. Whitman, writing from China some 
years ago, said: " A tiger that had been killed in the mountains was 
brought into the city and sold for medicinal purposes for a sum equiv- 
alent to about fifteen hundred dollars, American money." The 
flesh, skin, hair and bones are all dried and pulverized, and so power- 
ful is this medicine supposed to be that only the minutest portion is 
prescribed to impart wonderful vitality. A soup made from tiger's 
bones is thought to be sufficient to turn the most arrant coward into 
the bravest of the brave. The hairs of the tiger's moustache, brewed 
as we would brew tea, are likewise thought to possess wonderful 
strength imparting qualities, and are sold at one hundred cash (about 
83^2 cents) per hair. Skin, bones and flesh of huge snakes are used in a 
similar manner after being dried and powdered. In Formosa a jelly 
made of the bones of a recently killed savage is prescribed for anemia 
and debility. The execution of some criminal, the greater the better, 
will be largely attended by native medicine men anxious to obtain the 
bones from which to make this remedy. In Korea pulverized tiger's 



Forty-one The Power of Medical Missions 265 

skull is the antidote for hydrophobia, and bear's gall is prescribed for 
general debility. In North China dried scorpions are commonly em- 
ployed, and at one of the Methodist hospitals one woman was treated 
who, during an extended illness " had eaten more than two hundred 
spiders, and a large number of snakes' eggs, without being helped." 
Still another " native medical prescription required a wife to take some 
of her own flesh and, having properly prepared it, to give it to her sick 
husband to eat. The directions were heroically carried out, but with- 
out avail." 

Another class of native practices inflict painful, and frequently 
cruel or fatal, treatment upon the patient. Asiatic cholera in China 
and Formosa is supposed to yield to needle thrusts in the abdomen. 
In Arabia holes are burned in the feet in order to let the disease, or 
the demon, out, sick children are branded with red-hot irons, and 
wounded limbs are chopped off and the remaining stump is sealed in 
boiling wax or melted tar. In Africa, also, free recourse is had to the 
red-hot iron. Besides this mode of torture, the witch doctors of that 
dark continent cut and slash the patient's flesh and rub irritating juices 
into the open wounds. In India the treatment meted out to a little 
insane girl, demented through the cruel treatment of her widowhood, 
included, at the time of her violent paroxysms, the scratching of the 
head with thorns and rubbing in raw lime-juice. Rheumatism in 
the ankles is supposed to be cured by drinking a soup made of mon- 
key's feet, or by boring a hole in the heel and packing it with pepper. 

Still another class of remedies are about as harmless as they are 
inefficient. The reading of selected prayers, native incantations 
and the droning of exorcising formulas are carried on over the body of 
the sick person. Various devices are employed for transmitting the 
prayer to the spirit or demon supposed to cause the disease. In China 
the petition is written on a piece of red paper, which is burned. Pre- 
sumably the prayer has ascended and been duly received. Another 
method is to write the prayer on paper, which is then placed in a 
tumbler of water. When the ink has dissolved, and the paper is blank, 
the concoction is swallowed by the patient. 

Hundreds of other useless prescriptions, many of them more cruel 
and senseless than any here described, might be cited, but those al- 
ready mentioned show the nature of the absurdities to be superseded 
by Christian and scientific appliances. 

Note 4. Achievements of Medical Missionary Work. Three achieve- 
ments of the medical work specially deserving of notice are its contribu- 
tions to evangelization, its institution of hospitals and dispensaries in 



266 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

hundreds of needy communities, and its propagation of kindness and 
tenderness in the care of the sick. Possibly the evangelistic value of 
medical missions can best be illustrated by actual notes from the field. 
One patient cured in a hospital at Amoy, China, founded in the sub- 
sequent seventeen years no less than seven Christian congregations 
with a membership of from thirty to one hundred in each. The first 
convert of the hospital at Ningpo was an opium smoker who, at the 
time of his release, " asked that an evangelist might be sent to his home 
in a distant city. One was sent, and two years later thirty-seven con- 
verts were baptized through the work of the hospital patient and the 




The Hope-Wilhelmina Hospital, Amoy, China. 

native preacher. To-day there is a strong church of seven hundred 
baptized believers." Jeypore, India, for years a stronghold of idolatry, 
was opened up by what appeared like an accident. Dr. Valentine was 
journeying to the snow-capped Himalayas for a period of enforced 
rest. Passing through Jeypore he visited the maharajah, who in- 
formed him that his wife, the maharanee, was seriously ill, and that 
the native physicians despaired of her recovery. Under Dr. Valen- 
tine's skilful treatment a complete restoration was effected. In his 
gratitude the maharajah asked, " What can I do for you?" Dr. 
Valentine replied, " Let me preach the Gospel here." The maharajah 
retained Dr. Valentine as his private physician, acceding to the 
physician's one condition, viz., that he be permitted " to preach the 
Gospel from one end of the province to the other without let or hin- 
drance." Thus Jeypore was first opened to the Gospel, and Dr. Valen- 
tine carried on his labors in that place for fourteen years. (Compare 
Lesson 21, Note 4.) 

A second fruit of medical missions is the widespread distribution 



Forty-one The Power of Medical Missions 267 

of hospitals, infirmaries, and dispensaries throughout Eastern lands. 
India is fairly dotted with hospitals, a number of which administer 
from fifty to one hundred thousand treatments per year. Yet, though 
the medical agencies of India are established upon a scale of such 
magnitude, it is said that less than five per cent of those who die receive 
medical aid of any sort. In Japan the medical work of the mis- 
sionaries so thoroughly commended itself at an early date that the 
government adopted Western methods in the medical work of the 
army and sent a number of students to Europe to qualify for medical 
practice according to the best Western standards. As a consequence, 
medical work in Japan has fallen into a somewhat subordinate place 
as a missionary auxiliary, though it should not be denied a large share 
of credit for the present status of Japan's enlightened medical practice. 
China, as compared with some other heathen lands, is rich in hospitals 
Of the more than one hundred communities having hospital facilities, 
approximately forty can administer upwards of fifteen thousand 
treatments annually. One of the Canton hospitals gives over fifty 
thousand treatments per year. In Persia medical missions have 
proved of exceptional value in creating a feeling of confidence and trust 
toward foreign missionaries, and in thousands of cases have afforded 
opportunity of ministering to the hearts as well as to the bodies of the 
patients. In European Turkey, Syria and the African fields, similar 
results are being obtained. The London Society for Promoting Chris- 
tianity amongst the Jews, in its large hospitals at Jerusalem and 
Safed, treats about forty thousand patients annually. In all Eastern 
fields medical work in behalf of lepers is receiving the attention of the 
missionary forces. 

A third result of medical missions is seen in the gradual abandon- 
ment of heartless usages. Where formerly the fatally sick were taken 
to the banks of the Ganges, or exposed on the mountain top, or thrown 
into the rapids, or staked out in the forest to become the prey of wild 
beasts, to-day sane methods of care and tenderness are employed to 
ease the last hours of the dying. 

Note 5. The Call for Medical Missionaries. The opportunities 
for largest usefulness and the manifest need for enlargement of the 
medical missionary forces constitute a call to young men and women to 
enter this field of Christian service. Its compensations are not to be 
stated in dollars and cents, nor in terms of temporal advantage, though 
not a few medical missionaries have attained enviable positions of 
prominence in the countries to which they have gone. The chief re- 
wards of this service are a practice limited only by the powers of phys- 



268 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

ical endurance, and countless opportunities of definitely contributing 
to the advance of the kingdom. Here a variety of ills may be met and 
studied to an extent unknown to the practising physician at home. 
The opportunities open to women physicians in the East are especially 
inviting, as among the women the men physicians can carry on but a 
limited practice, especially in Mohammedan lands and India. Women 
who have not the opportunity to take a medical course may render a 
large and needed service as trained nurses in the mission hospitals. 

While ample professional equipment is desirable for all who go as 
doctors or nurses, the spiritual equipment is still more important. 
For such as combine medical skill and knowledge with a willingness to 
sacrifice for the kingdom, the East sends out its call to the young man- 
hood and womanhood of Christian America. All who can go should 
heed the call. But those who are too old, or are otherwise incapaci- 
tated for this service, must loyally stand by those who as their repre- 
sentatives go to the foreign field. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) The evils which medical missions endeavor to alleviate. 
Dennis: Christian Missions and Social Progress, vol. i, pp. 187-198. 
(2) Medical missions and their work in the various fields. Dennis : 
Ibid., vol. ii, pp. 400-447. (3) Medical work among women. Report 
of the Student Volunteer Convention, Nashville, 1906, pp. 506-512. (4) 
A brief treatise on the aim and work of medical missions. Williamson : 
The Healing of the Nations; or Wanless : The Medtcal Mission. (5) Re- 
lation of the spiritual to the physical. Art. in Homiletic Review for 
July, 1910. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What phase of mission work best represents the fundamental aim 
of missions? 2. Mention some difficulties of evangelism. 3. How 
would you endeavor to gather an audience for missionary preaching? 
4. Describe the type of man best fitted for evangelistic work. ' 5. State 
what you regard as one of the most important fruits of evangelism. 6. 
What phase of mission work do we study to-day ? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is the object of the lesson? (Note 1.) 



2. How do medical missions exemplify the Christian ideal? (Note 

2.) 



Forty-one The Power of Medical Missions 269 

3. In what respects does medical work serve as an auxiliary to the 
evangelistic work ? 



4. Why are missionary phvsicians welcomed in heathen lands? 
(Note 3.) 



5. Mention some native remedies for weakness and debility. 



6. What are some of the painful remedies of Eastern lands? 



7. To what harmless as well as useless devices do the people some- 
times resort ? 



8. Name three achievements of medical missions. (Note 4.) 



9. Illustrate the power of medical missions as an evangelizing 
agency. 



10. How has this work influenced the formerly common practices 
of the people in respect to sickness and death? 



11. What are the rewards of medical missionary service? (Note 5.) 



12. To what extent should the West respond to the medical needs of 
the East? Why? 



270 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Discuss the relation between physical health and spiritual life. 
2. Would you be inclined to regard medical missions as a forerunner 
of Christianity or as a fruit of Christianity? 3. Do you discover any 
principle underlying the native remedies? If so, what? 4. Account 
for the phenomenal evangelical spirit of Christians converted through 
medical missions. 5. How does the science of medicine affect numer- 
ous beliefs of the heathen world? Illustrate. 6. In what respects 
may a foreign field become more attractive to a young physician than 
a practice in the homeland ? 

Mission Gem. " Could we stand by the sufferers in many lands, 
and ask them to tell us of the blessings which missions have brought to 
them in the hour of illness, we should hear a mighty volume of testi- 
mony, the sincerity and truthfulness of which it would be impossible 
to doubt." — Dr. James S. Dennis. 

Personal Thought. The words of David Brainerd, whose brief life 
and memoirs inspired the missionary careers of William Carey and 
Henry Martyn, are suggestive for personal meditation. Said he, " It 
is no matter when, nor where, nor how Christ shall send me, nor what 
trials He shall exercise me with, if I may be prepared for His work and 
will." 



Lesson 42. TRAINING THE MIND, HAND AND HEART. 
A Vast Educational System. 

Scripture Reading: A Herald of the Kingdom. Mt. 3:1-12. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the need, the achievement, 
and the value of missionary educational work on the mission field. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. Native Educational Facilities on Mission Fields. In the 

Orient, education as we understand the word was wholly unknown 
until the advent of Christian missionaries. True, the people of these 
countries had what they called educational systems, but modern 
science, mathematics, and even the rudiments of Western learning 
were no part of them. In countries which possessed a literature, 
such as China, Persia, Japan, and India, education was purely literary 
and consisted of a greater or less familiarity with native treatises. 
Some of these were historical, some philosophical or poetical, and 
some were collections of proverbs and aphorisms. In China, education 
was practically limited to boys and men. With the well-to-do it began 
in early youth and continued during all the subsequent years. The 
gateway to official life was the passing of the state literary examina- 
tions, based upon the works of Confucius, and officialdom, thus limited 



Forty-two Training the Mind, Hand and Heart 271 

to the literary class, was the goal of Chinese ambition. The girls, 
as in all Oriental lands, were regarded as so inferior, mentally and 
socially, to the boys that no provision was made for them. Among 
the Parsis the writings of Zoroaster and the Persian mystics were 
studied, and among the Hindus of India the Brahmanical literature 
received the attention of scholars. Almost the only educated persons 
of India were the Brahman priests, who gave themselves to a study 
of the subtle Brahman metaphysics, the commentaries, and the 
sacred poetry of India. Here the coveted life was not that of official- 
dom but that of the priesthood. In Japan and Korea education was 
encouraged among all those who had the means. Still, it was purely 
literary, and thoroughly useless as an equipment for life. In Moham- 
medan lands the curriculum consisted in reading the Koran through 
and. in memorizing some of the sections. 

Many countries, however, have never possessed even a literature. 
In these a sort of crude education has been peculiarly associated with 
the physical changes attending growth and development. It is 
intended primarily to mark the youth's entrance upon manhood, 
and hence usually consists merely in instructions calculated to make 
him an efficient member of the tribe. It is little more than a vigorous 
method of initiation, and includes various tests of prowess with 
weapons of war, tests of strength, and tests of endurance especially 
with respect to bearing pain without flinching. In connection with 
the latter, horrible cruelties are sometimes practised, such as cutting 
and slashing the flesh, and depriving the initiate of food for several 
days. Among certain tribes this brief period of education and tribal 
initiation is superintended by one of the old men, who selects every 
year or two the boys twelve to fourteen years of age and marches 
them off to a stockade. In this stockade they are instructed for several 
weeks as to the rites and customs of the tribe, while part of the in- 
struction consists of participation in degrading orgies. At the con- 
clusion of the requisite period, public ceremonies mark the full en- 
trance of the young men into the social and civil life of their elders. 

In our homeland educational facilities are widely distributed. 
Yet even here the states have in many cases failed, either through 
inability or indifference, to provide adequate means of education. 
The South and the West are deficient in schools, illiteracy is common, 
and thousands of children have grown into manhood and womanhood 
with no educational advantages whatever. 

Note 3. Educational Work of Christian Missions. Early in the 
work of modern Christian missions it became apparent that educational 



272 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

work of some sort was absolutely necessary, in order that the Scrip- 
tures and other Christian literature might be used to the fullest pos- 
sible advantage. Moreover, in lands like China and Korea, where 
for centuries scholarship and learning had been held in high esteem, 
schools were well calculated to make a favorable impression upon 
the people. As an opening wedge for Christianity and as a means 
of gathering the children for Christian teaching, the mission schools 
of primary grade have not been surpassed. They have on all fields 
constituted one of the strongholds of Christian missions. 

Beyond the primary grades, there have been established high schools, 
academies and colleges. Many of these maintain high standards, 
and in India a number of them are affiliated with the government 
universities, which provide examinations but give no instruction. 

Another branch of the educational work, and one which holds a 
unique place in the social program of missions, is the industrial in- 
stitution. The converts frequently have to cope with such economic 
and social conditions as make necessary some provision for their 
temporal and industrial welfare. Disowned by the family, dis- 
charged by his employer, cast out by the tribe, homeless and without 
work, the convert often finds himself subjected to petty oppression 
and persecution. Often this trial has become too hard to bear, and 
has led to a relapse into heathenism. Such results needed to be offset 
by some industrial opportunity presented by the missionaries. Hence 
the agricultural and trade schools. Carpentry, cabinet making, 
printing in all its branches, tinsmi thing, blacksmithing, wheelwright- 
ing, chair caning, weaving, agriculture, brick and pottery work are 
some of the trades taught in these schools. As establishing the con- 
verts upon an independent footing and placing them in a position 
superior to most of their fellows, the industrial school is an efficient 
instrument. 

The summary of missionary educational statistics for 1909 records 
a total of more than twenty-nine thousand institutions of all kinds, 
with at least a million and a quarter of pupils, approximately one 
third of whom are girls and women. Of these schools, over twenty- 
six thousand are elementary and have considerably over a million 
pupils. The more than one thousand high schools and academies 
boast an enrolment of approximately one hundred thousand pupils, 
while the colleges and universities, numbering over a hundred, have 
students, almost all men, to the number of approximately fifty thou- 
sand. In addition to these colleges, there are almost fifty medical 
schools and schools for nurses, and about seventy-five theological 
seminaries and training schools for Christian workers. 



Forty-two Training the Mind, Hand and Heart 273 

The educational standards maintained by the mission schools have 
been determined largely by the capacity of the people for whom they 
are conducted. At first they were necessarily very low, but gradually 
they have been raised, and the process is still going on. The mission 
fields of India are the best equipped for educational work. Here 
both the intellectual attainments of the most advanced natives and 
the high standards set by the British government have forced the 
mission schools to undertake a high class of work. In China, which 
comes next to India in the number of mission schools, the increasing 
interest in Western education (see Lesson 18, Note 4) has spurred 




Madras Christian College. 

Erected by the Free Church of Scotland, aided by Indian and British contributions. 

the missionary forces to enlarge their school buildings, increase the 
teaching force, and purchase additional property. In Africa educa- 
tional work has not been called for on the same scale as in other fields. 
Yet in the Uganda field, we are told, the natives have a " singular 
and resistless passion " to learn to read and write. Their text-book 
is the Bible itself, over the pages of which they pore and pore with 
untiring zeal, at first mechanically going over the words but later 
catching some glimmering of the wonderful truth, until at last they 
comprehend the message of love as it flashes into their hearts. All 
the Muganda converts, except the aged or blind, can read their Bibles. 
It is a noteworthy fact that whether at home or abroad the church 
has always initiated the educational program. In the United States 
the denominational schools, academies and colleges, scattered over 
the country, are no small factor in the development of an educational 
ideal which does not ignore character as the fundamental element 
in a true education. 

Note 4. The Value of Education to Evangelization. One of the 
most obvious contributions of education to evangelization is that 



274 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

it prepares the way for a ready acceptance of the Gospel, by breaking 
down many of the native barriers which lie across the missionary's 
path. Thus the native beliefs in myriads of evil spirits haunting the 
air, and the native confidence in witch doctors, medicine men, and 
pagan priests, are all undermined by education. When the natives 
learn that their traditional explanations of natural phenomena are 
false, and that there is no foundation for their superstitions, they are 
ready to listen to their teachers on religious subjects. Moreover, 
the educational work of missions has unlocked the treasures of a 
Christian literature for the non-Christian world, and has inaugurated 
the training of a native ministry, absolutely essential to the establish- 
ment of a native church. Ministerial training could not possibly 
be given at first, but the high schools which were established provided 
some native workers, colporteurs, missionaries' assistants, and Bible 
women. Later the most promising 'of the high school scholars were 
urged to undertake some college studies and by specializing in the 
Bible, in theology and in homiletics, to prepare themselves for the 
native ministry. This work, at first so crude and insufficient, has 
constantly developed and improved, until to-day theological semi- 
naries, thinly scattered over the mission fields, are potent factors in 
the development of a better humanity, and in the propagation of the 
Gospel of Jesus. The evangelistic power of educational work is also 
to be found in the fact that the Bible is used as a text-book in almost 
all of the mission schools. As such, from three to six study periods 
per week are devoted to it. Under such training it is little wonder 
that in thousands of mission communities the Christians but lately 
won from ways of sin and darkness are more familiar with the Scrip- 
tures than the average church member of America. Many of them, 
won to Christ themselves through the class-room study of the Bible, 
constitute a striking testimonial to the evangelical value of mission 
schools and colleges. They are taught to handle the Book for the 
winning of others, so that many Christian students who graduate 
from a missionary academy or high school are equipped to serve as 
personal workers. These students frequently organize themselves 
into preaching bands, and conduct short evangelistic tours with much 
success. 

Note 5. Some Larger Results of Missionary Education. Probably 
no other feature of the missionary enterprise is to be credited with so 
large an influence in reshaping social and industrial conditions as may 
be credited to the educational work. The industrial schools in par- 
ticular have contributed to a just estimate of labor. Throughout 



Forty-two Training the Mind, Hand and Heart\ 275 

the non-Christian world, labor has long been considered degrading 
while leisure and idleness have been the coveted possessions of the 
rich. The caste system of India, in which the most menial\ tasks are 
performed by the lowest castes, reflects this universally pag& ; . n valua- 
tion. But industrial education under Christian auspices pi its high 
caste and low caste side by side at the same bench. Skill and a enleve- 
ment take the place of caste privilege. The practice of the indubdu-Ja1 
schools, like the teaching of the elementary schools and academies, 
emphasizes the equality of all men. As a result of this practice and 
teaching, men learn that the only merit which is worth anything is 
the merit of achievement, the ability to do something. The in- 
dependence of manhood thus gained gives dignity to labor, where 
before it was despised. 

A second result which should be mentioned here is the effect which 
mission schools have had upon the popular estimate of woman. 
Throughout the East women have for centuries been regarded as un- 
worthy of an education, and no provisions were made for their intellect- 
ual enlightenment. Missionaries soon discovered, however, that the 
girls of the East were no more mentally deficient than were the men, 
and consequently the education of girls and women advanced a step. 
It soon became apparent that many of the girls were gifted with a 
natural aptitude for study, and in India a number of university young 
women have acquitted themselves with high honors in the field of 
advanced scholarship. This scholarly competition of women with 
men and the direct teaching in the class room have raised the Oriental 
estimate of woman and tremendously advanced her social status. 
How important the education of its women is to the East, was sug- 
gested in the remark made by an Indian native, the vice chancellor 
of Bombay University. " One half of the intellectual, moral, and 
spiritual resources of our country," he said, " is being wasted. If 
our women were educated as they ought to be, they would be a 
powerful instrument for advancing the general condition of our coun- 
try." 

In view of the value of the educational work, it probably will con- 
tinue to receive the increasing attention of missionary leaders. With 
its growth there will be increased demand for unordained Christian 
educators. In this work, so fraught with far-reaching possibilities 
for good, the church cannot afford to shirk its increasing privilege and 
obligation. Schools and colleges of the great missionary enterprise, 
whether at home or abroad, need and should receive the heartiest 
support of the churches. Few instruments are to-day being used 
with greater effectiveness in the advancement of the kingdom. 



276 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(l) Placg of education in missions. Bliss : Encyclopedia of Mis- 
sions, pi). 220-222. (2) Educational facilities on mission fields. 
Dennis: Christian Missions and Social Progress, vol. iii, pp. 5-127. 
(j) The college as a force in India's evangelization. Wolf : In The 
Missionary Review of the World, October, 1908, pp. 758-762; Smith: 
The Conversion of India, pp. 185-194. (4) The higher education of 
Oriental women. Ecumenical Missionary Conference Report, New 
York, 1900, vol. ii, pp. 133-140. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Why does medical work deserve a prominent place in the mis- 
sionary enterprise? 2. Describe some of the native remedies em- 
ployed by Eastern peoples. 3. What have medical missions achieved 
in the way of evangelism? Mention some other fruits of the medical 
work. 4. How does the foreign mission field compare with America 
as offering the opportunities of a large practice to a young physician? 
5. What is the title of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Of what does native education consist in China, India, or other 
lands which possess a literature? (Note 2.) 



2. Of what does it consist among more primitive people i 



3. How is the education of women regarded in non-Christian lands! 



4. What improvements should be made in our educational facilities 
in America? 



5. What considerations made early educational missions imperative ? 
(Note 3.) 



6. What necessity led to the establishment of industrial schools ! 



Forty-two Training the Mind, Hand and Heart 277 

7. By what have the missionary educational standards been largely 
determined? How have these standards been raised? 



8. How does education contribute to evangelization? (Note 4.) 



9. In what manner has educational missions affected pagan social 
standards? (Note 5.) 



10. What has been their effect upon the popular estimate of women? 



11. What problem presents itself with the growing importance of 
the educational work? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What is the bearing of the educational work upon the missionary 
use and distribution of Christian literature? 2. Why does education 
which is not distinctively Christian fail to meet the highest educational 
standards? 3. How far could secular educational agencies have 
accomplished the results of missionary schools and colleges? 4. How 
does an educated womanhood react upon the character of a nation? 
5. Compare the importance of education and evangelization. 6. 
Mention several considerations which might induce a Christian school 
teacher to work in a missionary school rather than in a public school 
of America. 

Mission Gem. "If we are willing to go on in that God-given task 
of Christianizing the thought of all the people, we may be sure that 
the time will come when 

' Far in the East a golden light will dawn, 
And the bright smile of God come breaking through.' " 

— Rev. W. M. Forrest. 

Personal Thought. In the educational privileges which are mine, 
God has placed me on a vantage ground higher than that on which 
my fellows stand. Hence He expects of me better work, a life more 
intelligently spent, a religious activity more wisely guided. It is 
one thing to be a Christian, but another and a better thing to be an 
intelligent Christian, with heart and mind co-operating in loyal service 
to Jesus Christ. 



278 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Lesson 43. INTERDENOMINATIONAL CO-OPERATION. 
The Spirit of Comity and Union. 

Scripture Reading: "That they may all be one." Jo. 17:1-21. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show why and in what respects 
policies of unity and co-operation among missionary forces are desir- 
able, the extent to which such policies have been adopted, and some 
results already achieved. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Argument for Co-operation and Unity. As early as 
1854 Alexander Duff, at a missionary conference in New York City, 
struck the note of territorial comity in missionary work, and the con- 
ference placed itself upon record as holding that " an efficient pre- 
occupancy of any particular portion of the heathen field by any evan- 
gelical church or society should be respected by others and left in their 
undisturbed possession." At that early date, however, the union of 
missionary enterprises on the foreign field was scarcely dreamed of. 
Twenty-five years ago an attempt on the part of the Congregationalists 
and Presbyterians to unite their work in Japan was so thoroughly 
misunderstood in America and opposed in Japan that it temporarily 
failed. But more and more, first through territorial comity, then 
co-operation, and finally union, the various missionary organizations 
have been bringing into being a united Christianity on the foreign 
field and preparing the way for it at home. 

A statesmanlike view of missions demands strict economy in ad- 
ministration. Duplication of effort, overlapping of territory, the con- 
duct of several poor schools rather than a single good one, friction 
between competing denominations, stations, or institutions, mean 
a waste of resources and diminished missionary efficiency. A harmoni- 
ous co-operation that would reduce these evils to a minimum is de- 
manded by the magnitude of the work and its pressing importance. 
It must be done well and speedily, — we have no time to waste. 

A second consideration favorable to united work is the fact that 
fundamentally all the evangelical forces on the various fields are in 
agreement. It is only in respect to the symbols of Christianity, 
ecclesiastical organization, and similar non-essentials that the home 
churches are divided. On the field these differences largely disappear. 
The great needs of the foreign field are met and satisfied by the funda- 
mentals of Christianity. 

And this suggests a third consideration, viz., that the purpose of 
'hristian missions is not to perpetuate denominationalism but to 



Forty-three Interdenominational Co-operation 279 

establish in non-Christian lands a naturalized Christianity. When 
Occidental features of Christianity are transferred to the Orient they 
frequently appear ludicrous. Imagine the perplexity of two Chinese 
Christians, one a Northern Presbyterian from South China and the 
other a Southern Presbyterian from North China, in trying to explain 
their differences, neither one knowing the distinction between the North 
and the South in the United States, nor ever having so much as heard 
of our Civil War. North and South, Calvinist and Arminian have no 
significance to Christians in non-Christian lands. Converts in India, 
Japan, and Korea may have a deep interest in Christianity, but they 
know little and care less about our denominational distinctions. It 
was far more helpful to Christian progress in India that the Congrega- 
tionalist and Presbyterian and Reformed missions combined to form 
the United Christian Church of South India, than that these bodies 
should retain their American connections and remain separate among 
themselves. 

Another argument for union policies in mission work is found in the 
fact that in numerous instances they are in actual and successful opera- 
tion at the present time. Their adoption in some cases has been 
practically unavoidable. The problems thrust upon those who are on 
the fields have demanded solutions, and solutions along denomina- 
tional lines have been precluded by the very nature of the problems. 
Thus Chinese Christians traveling from one province to another could 
not understand why church membership in the provinces from which 
they came was not always a guarantee of welcome into church fellow- 
ship in the province to which they journeyed. So insistent were they 
for explanations that the missionaries were forced, in the main, to 
recognize the validity of all evangelical Christian ordinances and 
symbols, until to-day even church membership is transferable among 
many of the evangelical churches of China without respect to denomina- 
tional requirements, except that each church is at liberty further to 
instruct members so received. Within a year, Baptists in China have 
taken over two Presbyterian fields, together with their church member- 
ship and all the work associated with the mission stations. So suc- 
cessful and harmonious have these union enterprises proved that they 
constitute a powerful argument in behalf of the extension of union 
work, the gradual elimination of sectarian lines, and the spread of a 
universal Christianity. 

Note 3. Spheres of Co-operative Enterprise. Expressions of in- 
terdenominational co-operation, federation and union are becoming 
more common each year. Among the churches themselves we have 



280 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, the first regular 
meeting of which was held in December, 1908. The Council meets 
every four years, and represents thirty-two denominations, having a 
constituency of over thirty million communicants. Its chief aims 
are stated as follows: " To express the fellowship and catholic unity 
of the Christian church; to bring the Christian bodies of America into 
united service; to encourage devotional fellowship and mutual counsel 
concerning the spiritual life and religious activity, and to secure a 
larger combined influence for the churches of Christ in all matters 
affecting the moral and social condition of the people, so as to promote 
the application of the law of Christ in every relation of human life." 

Among the foreign missionary forces there is held the annual con- 
ference of Foreign Missions Boards of the United States and Canada. 
In 1910 the seventeenth of these conferences was held. This body 
has carried on some of its most significant work through its Committee 
of Reference and Counsel, whose duty it is to deal with such matters 
of general interest to all the Boards as may be referred to it. Among 
such matters have been studies of the educational opportunity in 
China, unoccupied mission fields, the opium traffic, and the Congo 
atrocities. It has interested itself in the preservation of the citizenship 
of missionaries, which seemed threatened by the recent passage of a 
new expatriation law of the United States, and in countless matters 
has been an invaluable aid in conserving the missionary energies and 
forces of all the co-operating organizations, more than fifty in number. 

On the foreign field the union sentiment finds its earliest expressions 
in territorial comity, whereby local competition between the missions 
is largely avoided. This policy has been carried out with noteworthy 
success in the Philippines and in Korea. Another expression of this 
Christian spirit is evidenced in the common title given to all the 
churches on some of the mission fields. Thus in China the churches 
are all the " Church of Christ," with some modifying denominational 
name if desired, as the Church of Christ, Presbyterian, in China, or 
the Church of Christ, Methodist, in China, the denominational name 
being quite subordinate. But the Chinese churches are praying and 
working for the day when these modifying terms may be omitted 
altogether, when there will be one triumphant Church of Christ in 
China. So also in the Philippines from the first, the missionary 
churches have all been Iglesia Evangelica, and if the denominational 
attachment were signified it followed the common name in parentheses. 

Union conferences and associations have also grown up on the foreign 
field much as at home. The year 1900 saw two great conferences of 



Forty-three Interdenominational Co-operation 281 

missionaries, one for all workers in Japan, the other for those of India. 
The former, which met in Tokyo, proclaimed its belief " that all those 
who are one with Christ by faith are one body," and it called upon 
" all those who love tke Lord Jesus and His church in sincerity and 
truth to pray and to labor for the full realization of such a corporate 
oneness as the Master Himself prayed for on that night in which He 
was betrayed." The All-India conference met at Madras and estab- 
lished provincial courts with a great central court of arbitration and 
appeal. Twenty-five missionary societies approved and co-operated 
in this enterprise. Numerous interdenominational conferences for 
Christian inspiration, such as those held in this country at Silver Bay, 
Northfield, and Winona Lake, are held each year throughout the larger 
mission fields. 

In educational and medical work the union movement has found its 
most thorough exemplification. Many academies, colleges, and uni- 
versities are under union control, and are taught by union faculties. 
On the foreign field there have even been established several theological 
seminaries in which different denominations have united for the train- 
ing of a native Christian ministry. Many text-books have been 
published under union auspices, and in Japan there is one common 
Christian hymnal for all communions. The educational workers in 
China are organized in one educational association. In hospital work 
it is now a common occurrence for several denominational forces to 
unite, and in China all the medical missionaries are gathered in a single 
medical association. 

The most difficult form of union work is that which pertains to 
religious instruction and evangelization, but even this is not unknown. 
One instance will illustrate. The English Baptists pay the American 
Presbyterians (North) five per cent interest on one half the amount 
invested by the Presbyterians in a Chinese chapel. They also fur- 
nish one worker, and in return have a half interest in the work and its 
control. 

Note 4. Further Instances and Results of Co-operation and Union. 

Instances of co-operation are too numerous to be stated in anything 
like a complete list, but it may suffice to note what one denomination 
is doing in union enterprises. All denominations are actively in- 
terested in this movement, and are carrying on work similar to that 
here mentioned, but the Presbyterians in so many instances have been 
the first movers toward union, and have furnished such spokesmen 
of the idea that it is only appropriate that their work should receive 
this recognition. In the annual report for 1909 of the Presbyterian 



282 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Board of Foreign Missions there are recorded no less than fourteen 
instances of definite co-operation or affiliation, involving amicable 
relations with at least twelve other denominations. Some of these, 
briefly stated, are as follows : 

(i) High schools consolidating with Hangchow Christian College, 
Southern and Northern Presbyterian interests involved. 

(2) Ningpo union conferences of all missions in the town and ad- 
jacent territory, " blazing the way to a federated church." 

(3) Union University of Nanking under consideration and partially 
consummated. Disciples, Methodist, and Presbyterian interests in- 
volved. 

(4) Nanking Union Theological Seminary, thirty-seven students; 
eighteen from Presbyterian (North) missions, eighteen from Presby- 
terian (South) missions, one from the Advent mission of Nanking. 

(5) Tsinan, China, English Baptists and Presbyterians in street 
chapel work; the year is pronounced " the best ever recorded in 
Tsinan." 

(6) Yi Hsien, China, Shantung Protestant University in which are 
affiliated the Presbyterian College at Wei- Hsien, the Baptist Theologi- 
cal Seminary at Tsingchow-fu, and the Baptist Medical School at 
Tsinan. 

(7) Pyeng Yang, Korea, Pyeng Yang College and Academy, Meth- 
odist and Presbyterian interests involved. Also Presbyterian Theo- 
logical Seminary supported by Southern, Northern, and Canadian 
Presbyterians. 

(8) Manila, Philippine Islands, Ellinwood Bible Seminary, Meth- 
odists and Presbyterians in cordial co-operation with probability that 
the United Brethren will join in. 

Such operations as these are an important factor in setting before 
the non-Christian world the true spirit of Christian brotherhood. 
They are likewise real steps in the process of bringing about an un- 
divided Christianity in which the tenets of all denominations will 
receive their due and proportionate emphasis. A man who had keen 
insight into the situation once observed with respect to the denomina- 
tional factor in a united Christianity, " What we want is not this or 
that, but this and that." The spirit of union and federation now 
moving among the churches is the most significant Christian develop- 
ment since the Reformation, and is probably in some way closely 
related to the world-wide extension of God's reign. Those who aid 
in this glorious exemplification of the Christian ideal are among the 
privileged characters of the kingdom. 



Forty-three Interdenominational Co-operation 283 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Church unity as seen by workers in China. The Chinese Re- 
corder, February, 1910, pp. 125-129, 133-164. This magazine is not 
in most American libraries, perhaps obtainable only in religious and 
missionary libraries, but the articles suggested are a distinct contribu- 
tion to the subject, and will well repay the reader. (2) The work of 
the Conference of Foreign Missions Boards. See reports of the con- 
ferences. (3) The union and co-operative enterprises in which your 
own denomination is interested. See annual report of home and 
foreign missionary boards. (4) Federation and union of churches. 
Nash, in Recent Christian Progress, pp. 323-330. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. Give several reasons for the employment of educational agencies 
in missionary work. 2. Mention two ways in which education makes 
possible a wider extension of evangelical work. 3. What phenomenal 
blessing have educational missions brought to non-literary people 
like the Central Africans? 4. How have industrial schools proved 
valuable to the native communities? 5. Give your estimate of the 
opportunities which accompany a life-work as a missionary educator. 
6. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 



2.) 



QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. How old is the idea of interdenominational co-operation? (Note 



2. Mention several arguments in behalf of united missionary work. 



3. What usage prevails in China with respect to the transfer of 
church membership? 



4. What is the Federal Council of Churches, and what is its aim? 
(Note 3.) 



5. Tell what you can of the work of the Conference of Foreign Mis- 
sions Boards of the United States and Canada. 



284 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

6. By what names are the Chinese and Philippine churches known? 



7. Mention two remarkable conferences held on mission fields in 
1900. 



What can you say of union educational and medical enterprises 



9. What denomination has been specially interested in union work? 
Cite several instances. (Note 4.) 



10. What is the value of union effort ? Toward what great day does 
it work? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Of what value has been the existence of many denominations? 
2. How has denominationalism sometimes operated against the pro- 
gress and cultivation of Christianity? 3. Has the day gone by when 
denominational separateness is out of place? 4. Is a policy of Chris- 
tian union which proves successful on foreign fields out of place at 
home? 5. To what extent does a united Christianity increase the 
acceptability of the Gospel to non-Christian people ? 6. Do you regard 
a united Christianity as feasible? Why? 

Mission Gem. " I belong to the Presbyterian church, but I have 
not the slightest zeal in seeking to have the Presbyterian church ex- 
tended over the non-Christian world. I believe in one Church of Christ 
in each land." — Robert E. Speer, secretary of the Presbyterian Board 
of Foreign Missions. 

Personal Thought. The church of Christ is larger than my own 
denomination. Yet I frequently limit my rejoicings to the success 
of my own church rather than extend them to the successes of all 
churches. Is not my love provincial, and my heart little? Do I not 
need to pray earnestly for a love that shall be universal and for a 
heart made large through the grace of God? 



Forty-four The Church and the Mission Problem 285 

Lesson 44. THE CHURCH AND THE MISSION PROBLEM. 

Value and Function of Organized Missionary Agencies. 

Scripture Reading: An Early Missionary Enterprise. Acts 13:1-3, 13-15, 44-49. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To state the problem of administra- 
tion and to show the responsibility of Christians, individually and col- 
lectively, for the adequate presentation of the Gospel to the whole 
world. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Problem as Seen on the Mission Field. The missionary 
field is like a great factory in which the calculations and decisions of 
the office and the counting room are applied. Here is all the produc- 
tive machinery of the missionary enterprise, the twenty-two thousand 
missionaries caring for a church membership of over two millions, more 
than a hundred and thirty thousand of whom were added during 1909. 
These workers, in addition to managing printing establishments that 
are always rushed with work, operating hospitals that are over- 
crowded, and serving in almost every human capacity where there is 
need, are conducting, with the assistance of a hundred thousand native 
helpers, a far-reaching evangelistic ■ campaign, and are developing 
thirty thousand schools having one and a half million pupils. To carry 
on this vast work with efficiency fifty million dollars annually would not 
be too much. This would allow for an average allotment of less than 
seven hundred dollars for each school, mission station, and outstation, 
including all salaries and running expenses. As a matter of fact, how- 
ever, all this work, even including hospitals, is conducted on approxi- 
mately one half the amount suggested, or about twenty-five million 
dollars annually. This sum pays the salaries of non-native workers, 
buildings for schools, hospitals, and churches, and a thousand minor 
expenses incidental to so great an enterprise. 

Such a statement, incomplete as it is, reveals something of the 
dimensions of the problem as seen on the field. It is also suggestive 
of the rigid economy with which the work most be conducted. A 
dollar on the foreign field must be made to go as far as it can, and as a 
matter of fact it goes much farther than at home, for the foreign 
exchange on American money is to our advantage. The dollar given 
to missions, by the time it reaches China or Africa, will purchase as 
much as one and a half to three dollars of native money. In respect 
to labor, the power of the missionary dollar is seen to still greater 
advantage, as one American dollar is a fair week's wages for a native 
laborer in China. Five hundred dollars annually will support from 
five to ten strong, effective, native evangelists. In Africa the same 



286 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



sum would go farther, in Japan not so far. There is no place in Europe 
or America where a small investment brings such large returns as on 
the foreign field.. Thirty dollars a year for three years to the work 
in China, the gift of one woman in America, resulted in the conversion 
of three thousand souls. 

Another, and not so encouraging a phase of the problem, presents 
itself on the field in the daily experience of the missionaries who, 
facing great need or great opportunity, find themselves unable to 
grant relief or to expand their work. Out of their limited incomes they 
give too generously, often to the injury of health or strength. But 
the great lack of funds, the waiting year after year for adequate equip- 
ment in school, or hospital, or working force, combined with the daily 
round of duty, wears the life down and sometimes arouses the suspicion 
that the people at home really do not care. The problem which the 
missionary faces is not so much how to use funds, but rather how to 
get along without funds. 

Note 3. The Problem as Seen at Home. While the church's rep- 
resentatives on the field are courageously at work, the church at 
home faces the difficult problem of planning the work abroad, enlisting 
workers, scattering educational literature, gathering funds and in 
countless other ways busying itself with the advancement of the work. 
Here the great question is how to lead Christians to see and realize 
the breadth and the importance of the missionary work. Judging 
from the active participation of the churches in this task, about fifty 
per cent of the members are wholly indifferent to it. In one of the 
largest missionary denominations of this country over one third of the 
churches gave nothing to foreign missions during 1909, and in most 
of the churches which made an offering, less than half of the member- 
ship contributed. It is stated on good authority that " one tenth of 
all our church members gives nine tenths of all our benevolent offer- 
ings." Evidently it is the personal devotion of the few rather than 
the general devotion of all which keeps alive the missionary work. 
The place which missions occupies with the masses may be indicated 
by the fact that America spends more for chewing gum than for world- 
wide evangelization. Note also that as against the eleven million 
dollars contributed by Americans during 1909 for missions, the women 
of America spent over sixty million dollars for lace, and the men spent 
over eight hundred millions for tobacco. The six billions of dollars 
and seven hundred thousand men which England sacrificed in her wars 
of the past one hundred years would carry on all present missionary 
work for seven centuries. 



Forty-four The Church and the Mission Problem 287 

These facts are unmistakable evidence that sufficient money is 
available for missions; the problem is how to obtain it. Every church 
and every Christian individual should contribute something, no matter 
how little, to this eminently Christian work. The average annual gift 
in most of the denominations is pitiably small. Many of the mission 
boards are working now for an " every church campaign " in which 
special efforts are being made to reach every non-contributing church 
and win it over to the ranks of contributing churches. Similarly 
churches are undertaking an " every member campaign," the object 
of which is to obtain some contribution, however slight, from every 
church member. This desirable end can only be accomplished by 
the church members themselves, and it remains with those who know 
the situation to inform those who do not, and to use every available 
means for disseminating missionary facts, figures, stories and recorded 
triumphs. An army can fight better when it knows it is beginning to 
win. 

Note 4. How the Church Seeks to Solve the Problem. The task of 
collecting and distributing the missionary funds, though it may at 
first seem simple, is in fact exceedingly difficult and complex. Treas- 
urers' accounts, a foreign banking business, the issuance and dis- 
tribution of tons of campaign literature, the organization of the home 
territory into collection districts, the recording of conditional gifts 
and bequests, the publication of a missionary magazine, each one a 
business in itself, and the organization of various departments of the 
home work, must all be done with the precision and efficiency charac- 
teristic of a well managed commercial establishment. To carry on 
this complex business most of the denominations have an appointed 
or an elected body -of men who constitute the mission board or society. 
Sometimes one board carries on both the home mission and the foreign 
mission work, but usually two organizations are created. The work 
of the board of foreign missions, the term " board " being used syn- 
onymously for society, committee, association, or other name, natu- 
rally falls into two parts: viz., that which must be carried on abroad, 
and that which must be carried on at home. In the larger boards the 
work abroad is under the superintendence of one secretary, and the 
work at home is in charge of another. The one is head of the work of 
disbursement, the other is head of the work of collection. The con- 
necting link between these two is the treasurer, who receives and 
records all contributions and pays all bills. Each of these three 
officials has a larger or smaller force of office assistants, according to 
the needs of the work. 



288 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



The support of this organization itself must be met out of the mis- 
sionary funds. This introduces the whole question of financial 
administration. Of the annual receipts of the board, not counting 
native contributions made on the field, about twelve per cent is 
employed in supporting the home administration. Many well- 
intentioned Christians complain that only eighty-eight cents of each 
dollar reaches the field, but it should be noted that were an individual 
to send one dollar to the field, it would cost five cents for a postage 
stamp and eight cents for a money order, and then the dollar would 
not have been administered with the wisdom and insight which the 
secretary's intimate knowledge gives him, it would have had no part 
in providing missionary speakers to the home churches, no part in 
producing the missionary magazine, no part in furnishing programs 
and exercises to Sunday schools, young people's societies and churches, 
no part in securing new missionary candidates, and no part in the 
distribution of thousands of pamphlets and leaflets telling of the pro- 
gress of the kingdom on foreign soil. The foreign missionary dollar 
which is used twelve cents at home and eighty-eight cents abroad is 
a vastly more useful and efficient dollar than any dollar either sent 
individually or entirely to the field, for the twelve per cent retained 
helps to bring in still other dollars. 

It will be seen from the above that the twelve per cent goes princi- 
pally toward obtaining the money to send away. " It is not handling 
the money that costs, but getting the money to handle." The mis- 
sionary collections could be efficiently administered for only two to 
four per cent instead of twelve per cent, if only the churches would 
send in their contributions without solicitation and education. But 
these latter things are necessary to some extent, and always will be. 
The administration cost, however, could be materially reduced pro- 
portionally if the churches were to respond more spontaneously and 
remit more generously. 

Note 5. Men, Money, and Missions. In the church's discharge 
of her missionary obligation, the proposition of world evangelization 
is reduced largely to a matter of men and money. As to men, the 
church needs the active support and service of her best, her strongest, 
and her wealthiest men no less than that of her rank and file. Those 
who arc equal to the task should go to the foreign field. Those who 
cannot go abroad but who are able to undertake evangelization at 
home, can well be utilized in the ministry and in home mission enter- 
prises. All the rest should lend themselves to the cordial and hearty 
support of these who give themselves definitely to the kingdom's 



Foriy-four The Church and the Mission Problem 289 

welfare. The obligation in behalf of missions rests fully as much on 
those who do not enlist in the ranks as upon those who do. Both 
forms of service are absolutely essential for efficiency, and the man 
who gives his money is doing just as necessary a work as the man 
who labors on the field. 

The man who goes to the field should be a man of one purpose but 
of many interests. He should know how to handle a hammer, cook 
a meal, sew a garment, and administer simple remedies to the sick. 
He should be an adept in dealing with men, familiar with the Word of 
Life which he goes to proclaim, reasonably capable in learning a 
language. He must be fearless yet tactful, a good disciplinarian, yet 
without a suggestion of'harshness, and in the midst of difficulties and 
discouragements, he must exercise patience, wisdom, and cheerfulness. 
And yet the missionary task does not call for an extraordinary man 
so much as for an ordinary man with all his faculties wholly consecrated 
and exercised to their best. 

Aside from certain special funds, the annual income of each board is 
made up of unconditional gifts, and gifts intended for some special, 
designated object. The latter class are known as " specifics," of 
which there are two kinds, viz., additional specifics intended for work 
for which the board has made no appropriation, and appropriation 
specifics, intended for work for which the board has made provision. 
An additional specific usually falls outside of what the board considers 
most pressingly needed, and therefore is of less real value to the work 
than an appropriation specific which merely provides that the gift 
or fund is to be used for some designated work which the Board has 
decided is most urgent. It is desired by most, if not all mission boards 
that " additional specifics " generally be discouraged, as they help 
the actual work but little, and usually entail considerable bother. But 
a specific gift for work which falls within the appropriation is always 
welcome. Nevertheless, the unconditional gift is the one which the 
boards can use to the best advantage, as it may be employed just where 
the combined wisdom of the board sees it is most needed. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Masculine interests in missions. Ellis : Men and Missions, 
especially chs. 1, 4, 6, 11, 12. (2) Suggestions to prospective mis- 
sionaries. Beach (editor) : Call, Qualifications and Preparation of 
Candidates for Foreign Missionary Service. (3) Foreign missionary 
administration. Brown : Why and How of Foreign Missions, ch. 2, 
(4) America's Responsibility for Missions, White : Our Share of 



290 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

the World (pamphlet published by Laymen's Missionary Movement, 
New York City). 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What are some of the advantages of interdenominational co- 
operation in missionary work? 2. Mention several instances of such 
co-operation. 3. Should the principle of united endeavor in Christian 
work apply to the churches at home as well as to those on mission 
fields? 4. How does loyalty to Christianity differ from loyalty to a 
denomination? 5. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Summarize the foreign missionary forces on the field. (Note 2.) 



2. What would be a fair expenditure for missionary operations now 
under way? What is the actual expenditure? 



3. Compare the amount of work a foreign missionary dollar can do 
with the work which a dollar could do at home. 



4. What phase of the mission problem is ever present with the 
missionary ? 



5. Summarize the missionary task of the churches at home. (Note 
3.) 



6. How freely do the churches contribute to the financial support of 
missions? 



7. What evidence is there that sufficient money is available for this 
work? 



Forty-four fhe Church and the Mission Problem 291 

8. Describe the usual organization of a mission board or society. 
(Note 4.) 



9. How is a missionary dollar expended! 



10. For what purpose is twelve per cent chiefly used? What 
persons, then, are primarily responsible for this expenditure? 



11. Upon whom does the missionary obligation rest? (Note 5.) 



12. Describe the kind of individuals who are wanted for service. 

13. What is a " specific " gift? What kind of " specifics ' 
usually not welcomed ? What kind are welcomed ? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Compare, as respects magnitude, the missionary enterprise with 
several commercial undertakings. 2. Do you regard as excessive 
the expenditure of twelve per cent for administration? How does it 
compare with the cost of conducting ordinary business? 3. What 
is your estimate of missionary service as a life-work? 4. What is the 
best use to which a Christian can put his money? 5. What do you 
think of the " every member campaign "? Would the class be willing 
to inaugurate such a campaign in their own church? 

Mission Gems. " A man or a dollar will go further on the mission 
field than anywhere else in the world." — G. Campbell White. 

" The happiest day I ever spent was the day when I decided to give 
myself to Africa." — David Livingston. 

Personal Thought. Can I be content unless in some way I identify 
myself with this far-reaching work of the kingdom's extension? Am 
I justified in giving to it less than my life? Surely my life is none too 
much to give to it. 

" I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, 
Over mountain, or plain, or sea. 
I'll do what you want me to do, dear Lord, 
I'll be what you want me to be." 



292 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Lesson 45. MODERN MISSIONARY MOVEMENTS. Re- 
awakening the Church to her Task. 

Scripture Reading : The Condemnation of Indifference. Rev. 3 : 14-22. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To point out the origin of the 
great missionary organizations, the more recent rise and extension of 
powerful missionary movements, and the effects of these movements 
upon the missionary spirit of the churches. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Modern Missionary Organizations Abroad. The nine- 
teenth and the twentieth centuries will probably long be known as 
the missionary period of the Christian church. The power to repro- 
duce itself has always characterized the Christian faith ; yet this ability 
had not been organized for the faith's world-wide extension till within 
a hundred and fifty years. Several centuries prior to the formation 
of the modern missionary societies, Roman Catholic missions had been 
carried on, and secured a fair foothold in China and Japan. The 
methods which many of the early Roman missionaries followed in 
both these countries were so offensive to the natives that government 
edicts ordered opposition to the faith and banishment of missionaries. 
Even Ripa, one of their own number, reported concerning the mis- 
sionaries that " their garments are of the richest materials; they go 
nowhere on foot, but always in sedans, on horseback, or in boats, 
and with numerous attendants following them. There is scarcely a 
single missionary who can boast of having made a convert by his own 
preaching. They cannot produce any satisfactory results, in con- 
sequence of the language, which, up to my time, none has been able 
to surmount so as to make himself understood by the people at large." 
Nevertheless, these Roman missions were not without some per- 
manent result, furnishing a nucleus of native Christians among whom 
the later missionaries found valuable assistants. 

The modern missionary era had its origin in a profoundly spiritual 
movement. The Reformation under Luther was followed a century 
later by the Pietistic Movement, a protest against formalism in religion. 
Among those who were deeply influenced by this movement was a 
Dr. Lutkens, court chaplain to Friederich IV of Denmark, who, with 
his Majesty's ardent support, finally inaugurated the first continental 
mission of Protestant Christianity. This was the Danish Halle Mis- 
sion on the Tranquebar coast; India, where its missionaries labored 
for over eighty-five years until the arrival of Carey in 1793. About 
the same time the three earliest English societies were organized, 



Forty-five Modern Missionary Movements 293 

viz., the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (1698), at first 
largely missionary, but now the great publishing house of the Anglican 
church, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts 
(1701), familiarly known as the S. P. G., and the Scottish Society for 
the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (1708). In 1714 the Nor- 
wegian Society for Missions was formed; and in 1722 the Moravian 
missions, with which the name of Count Zinzendorf will forever be 
associated, were reorganized. These steps, all taken within twenty- 
five years, are seen to be closely related to the first spiritual awaken- 
ing subsequent to the Reformation. A second period of missionary 
organization followed the great expansion of the non-conformist faiths 
in England and America. While the Wesley brothers were still 
living the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society was set on foot 
(1786), and then the English Baptist Missionary Society (1792). 
Then followed in rapid succession the organization of the London 
Missionary Society (1795), the Scottish and Glasgow Missionary 
Societies (1796), later merged with other missionary agencies, the 
Netherlands Missionary Society (1797), the Religious Tract Society 
(1799), the beginnings of the Church Missionary Society in the same 
year, and the British and Foreign Bible Society (1804). 

Note 3. Missionary Organization in America. The movement in 
England leaped across the Atlantic and awakened the American 
churches. In 1806 the now famous " haystack meeting," held by 
three students of Williams College, initiated the American missionary 
movement, and three years later the Congregational churches, with 
the Presbyterian and Reformed churches co-operating, established 
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Other 
American societies were formed as follows: American Baptist Foreign 
Mission Society in 1814, the American Bible Society in 1816, the 
Methodist Board of Foreign Missions in 1819, and the American Tract 
Society in 1823. Between the years 1835 and 1838 the Episcopalians, 
Presbyterians and Lutherans organized denominational missionary 
agencies, and to-day practically every denomination conducts its 
own missionary work. 

Early in the history of American missionary agencies, auxiliary 
societies of various kinds were organized. Of these the most powerful 
and influential have been those which, while organically independent, 
being organized and managed by women and for women, have never- 
theless sustained practically auxiliary relations to denominational 
boards. In the churches the interest has been maintained, money 
gathered, literature distributed and missionary meetings held by 



294 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

women, and in multitudes of cases if the women had not done this 
work no one else would. For years the women's societies have co- 
operated with, have encouraged, and have aided in countless ways 
the denominational societies, many of which might have gone to 
pieces more than once had it not been for the loyalty of the women. 
Other societies and mission bands innumerable, local, state, and 
national, develop missionary interest and activity among children 
and young people, in the Sunday schools and in the various young 
people's societies. 

Note 4. Educational Missionary Movements and their Work. A 

distinctly different type of missionary organization than those just 
mentioned has recently appeared in so-called " movements," e. g., the 
Student Volunteer Movement, the Young People's Missionary Move- 
ment, and more recently the Laymen's Missionary Movement. All 
of these movements are solely for the education and inspiration of 
certain classes of people in respect to missionary work. They raise 
no missionary funds themselves, and carry on no distinctively foreign 
or home mission work. 

(a) The Student Volunteer Movement. This organization, founded 
in 1886, operates among college students, organizes mission study 
classes, seeks to obtain volunteers for work abroad, and by its quadren- 
nial conventions makes a large contribution to popular missionary 
education. It has been a potent factor in developing a high apprecia- 
tion of the missionary career as a life-work. Prior to the Toronto 
Convention of 1902, 780 volunteers had sailed to foreign fields. Before 
the Nashville convention of 1906, one thousand more had gone, and 
at the Rochester convention, 1910, it was announced that an additional 
1275 had sailed. John R. Mott, the founder, energizer, and efficient 
secretary of the movement, expects two thousand more volunteers 
to go abroad before the 1914 convention. Those who have gone may 
be. found on every mission field in the world, while multitudes of 
volunteers for whom the way has not opened or the funds have not 
materialized, remain at home, a live missionary agency scattered 
throughout America in schools, colleges, business circles, and pro- 
fessional walks of life. 

(b) The Young People's Missionary Movement. This movement, 
originated in 1902, has as its object the wide cultivation of missionary 
knowledge among the young people of our churches. It is " a federa- 
tion of the home and foreign mission boards of the United States and 
Canada to do educational work," its ruling body being a board of 
directors, chiefly made up of representatives from all the co-operating 



Forty-rive Modern Missionary Movements 295 

societies. The work of this organization includes the publication of 
a series of text-books dealing with mission work on the several fields, 
and the holding of local missionary conferences having as their aim 
the formation of study classes and the introduction of organized mis- 
sion work into the activities of the churches, young people's societies 
and Sunday schools. In addition, the movement holds annual con- 
ferences at Silver Bay during July, and each year conducts other sum- 
mer conferences at advantageous points in Canada and the United 
States. These conferences have been exceedingly influential in build- 
ing up a strong missionary spirit among the delegates, and in equipping 
them for practical missionary service in their own churches. The 
Young People's Missionary Movement has also labored for a number 
of years to have missions taught in the Sunday school, and it is a 
pleasure to credit the movement in large part with the important place 
given to missions and missionaries in graded Sunday school instruction, 
both in the International Lessons and in the Bible Study Union system. 
(c) The Laymen's Missionary Movement. This organization, 
founded in 1906, seeks primarily to enlist the great army of church 
men in the active support of the missionary enterprise. Its principal 
activities take the form of campaign tours through the more important 
cities, gathering great mass meetings of men, presenting to them the 
missionary opportunities which challenge acceptance, and inviting 
them to shoulder the burden. This frank statement of the missionary 
situation has in thousands of cases met with a response outstripping 
in enthusiasm any Christian propaganda heretofore established. The 
work, like that of the other movements mentioned above, is thoroughly 
interdenominational, and .is doing much to cultivate a larger sense of 
Christian brotherhood and unity among all denominations. Already 
this movement has profoundly impressed the churches themselves, 
and has induced a large increase in missionary offerings. Some of the 
results of the campaign conducted during the winter of 1909-1910 
were as follows: nineteen cities pledged an increase of $1,750,000 in 
their offerings during 1910; at Columbia, S. C, the men voted to in- 
crease their last year's offering of $5,365 to at least $12,000, but before 
the convention was over the sum pledged was well on to the $15,000 
mark; at Jacksonville, Fla., where the previous year's offering was 
$3,506, the men voted to raise $10,000; Louisville, Ky., increased her 
former offering of $34,000 to at least $66,000, and it is reported that 
at the St. Louis gatherings a business man, who said he had never 
given ten dollars to missions before, pledged himself to give to missions 
a thousand dollars annually. Such typical instances as these illustrate 
the practical efficiency of the Laymen's Movement. 



296 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

These three movements have given the Christian churches of 
America the vision of a task of world-wide proportions, and have 
awakened them to their missionary duty as never before. The churches 
that have not adopted some sort of active missionary policy are lacking 
the progressive spirit of twentieth century Christianity. The more 
fruitful churches have a committee to provide a definite missionary 
policy for the whole church. This committee is frequently composed, 
in part at least, of persons serving on the missionary committees of 
the Sunday school, young people's organization, or other societies, 
and the work of all these agencies is so correlated as to avoid any 
duplication or ineffectiveness of effort. The committee notes the 
work of the missionary movements, co-operates with and serves them 
wherever possible, and is in constant touch with the denominational 
enterprises. When all the churches adopt such a policy, the various 
missionary movements, having accomplished their several purposes, 
may direct their energies along new channels of missionary enterprise 
and expansion. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) The federation of Christian students throughout the world. 
Mott: Strategic Points in the World's Conquest. (2) A brief survey 
of the origin, work and results of modern missions. Bliss: Encyclo- 
pedia of Missions, pp. 477-483; and Dennis: Centennial Survey of 
Foreign Missions. (3) Work of the several missionary movements. 
Annual reports of the several bodies, current numbers of religious 
journals, and the bound volumes of the Student Volunteer Movement 
Convention Reports. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. How does the magnitude and importance of the missionary 
enterprise impress you? 2. How is the church organized for the 
conduct of this work? 3. Where does the real problem of Christian 
missions center? 4. How are the missionary funds administered? 
5. Which is the more necessary prerequisite for mission work, men or 
money? 6. Upon whom does the actual responsibility for missions 
rest? 7. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. How recent is the modern missionary movement? (Note 2.) 



2. What can you say of the early Catholic missions in China i 



Forty-five Modern Missionary Movements 297 

3. Out of what sort of church has missionary activity always grown? 

4. How were missions begun in America ? (Note 3.) 



5. What part have Christian women taken in American missionary 
enterprises ? 



6. Tell what you can of the work of the Student Volunteer Move- 
ment. (Note 4.) 



7. What is the aim and the work of the Young People's Missionary 
Movement ? 



8. By what means does the Laymen's Missionary Movement seek 
to cultivate men's interest in missions? What success has attended 
these efforts? 



9. Mention some results of the work of these movements. 



10. What is your idea of a missionary committee in the local church ? 
How should it be composed? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Judging from history, is a non-spiritual church likely to be a 
missionary church? What does this suggest with respect to the 
spiritual phase of our present missionary problem? 2. Three college 
students started the missionary enterprise of America. What does 
this suggest as to God's ability to nse consecrated young manhood? 



298 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

3. How do you think the increased interest in missions at home affects 
the spirit of the missionaries abroad? 4. Do you feel that the several 
movements mentioned tend to work up an enthusiasm without furnish- 
ing a foundation, or do you consider their work of permanent value? 
Is missionary enthusiasm without missionary intelligence likely to 
prove of real value? Why? 5. Which of these three movements 
has most vitally affected the life of your own church? of your own 
acquaintances? of yourself? 

Mission Gem. " The greatest obstacle to the spread of the Gospel 
abroad is its imperfect power at home." 

Personal Thought. " HdK the world knows nothing of what Jesus 
means to the life; half the world has never seen one who loves Jesus; 
half the world has never been called to follow Him. These simple 
facts, out of the mass of facts you hear, ought to be enough to bring 
you to a consideration of where Jesus wants you to put your life." — 
Henry W, Luce. 



2. Fruits of Christian Conquest. 



Lesson 46. SCIENCE AND MISSIONS. Indebtedness of the 
Former to the Latter. 

Scripture Reading: An Ancient Lover of Nature. 1 Ki. 4:29-34. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show in what respects missions 
and missionaries have contributed to the world's fund of scientific 
knowledge. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Contributions to Exploration, Geography, and Archaeology. 
Among the contributors to the stores of scientific knowledge, a num- 
ber of missionaries hold enviable place. While missionaries have not 
excelled in every science, yet in one or two branches, such as the 
compilation of dictionaries and the comparative study of languages, 
they have not been surpassed. Most of their contributions were made 
in the earlier years of the missionary enterprise. The reasons why 
the later years have been less fruitful in this respect are that sciences 
themselves have so advanced that only specialists can hope to enlarge 
the field of knowledge, and that the missionary's task is so much more 
complex as to leave little time for original investigation. Neverthe- 
less, it will always be to the credit of the missionary enterprise that 
during the nineteenth century it contributed so largely to the exact 
knowledge of distant and little known regions. Though every branch 



Forty-six Science and Missions 299 

of science has been enriched by mission workers, mention can be made 
in this lesson of only the more general results. 

Missionaries have been the foremost explorers and pioneers during 
the nineteenth century. Livingstone, in his remarkable journeys 
from coast to coast through the heart of Africa, lifted the veil from the 
dark continent, and was the first of civilized men to look upon the 
Victoria Falls, the greatest in the world, far surpassing Niagara in 
beauty and volume. In 1856 Erhardt and Rebmann submitted to the 
Royal Geographical Society the first authentic accounts of mounts 
Kilimanjaro and Kenia, situated on the equator in East Africa, and 
the great inland sea, two years later identified by Burton and Speke 
as Lake Tanganyika. Another African missionary whose ability as 
an explorer made the commercial world his debtor was the Rev. 
George Grenfell, whose extensive labors in the Congo basin were prose- 
cuted in the midst of arduous missionary duties. At the request of 
king Leopold of Belgium he acted as commissioner for the delimita- 
tion of the Congo state frontier, and was awarded the Patron's Medal 
by the Royal Geographical Society. In Australia, Hagenauer and, 
more recently, Bishop Gilbert White, have made valuable explorations, 
the latter having crossed the continent from Port Darwin to Adelaide, 
riding horseback for three months through the heart of the country. 
Almost the entire island world of the Pacific has been introduced to 
civilization by such men as missionaries Macfarlane, Chalmers, and 
Lawes. Similarly, interior China was opened up by missionaries. 
Dr. Blodget traveled extensively in the region about Peking, while 
Dr. S. W. Williams, one of the foremost missionary scientists, in his 
volumes on The Middle Kingdom produced an almost exhaustive 
treatise on nearly every phase of Chinese life, and the natural features 
of the country. The agents of the British and Foreign Bible Society 
in Asia and of the American Bible Society in South America must also 
be reckoned as explorers, since many of them have blazed paths through 
untraveled countries, preparing the way for later Gospel successes. 

In addition to such geographical data, considerable information 
concerning the physical geography of little known regions has been 
obtained. Probably no observations of volcanic activity have ever 
surpassed those of the Rev. Titus Coan, who, during a period of almost 
fifty years spent along the eastern shore of Hawaii, submitted through 
the Missionary Herald his astounding reports on the eruptions of 
Kilauea, and Mauna Loa. Missionary observations in Polynesia have 
been the basis for navigators' charts, and daily meteorological reports 
are sent from the Syrian Protestant College observatory at Beirut 
to Washington, via Constantinople. 



300 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

In the field of ancient records mention should be made of the interest 
of Dr. S. Wells Williams in the Nestorian monument of China, which 
records the successful establishment of Christianity in the Chinese 
empire as early as the sixth century; of the Rev. F. A. Klein's discovery 
of the famous Moabite stone, recording the exploits of Mesha, the 
Moabite king, and his wars with Israel in the 10th century B.C.; 
and of thousands of notes relating to antiquity from almost every 
corner of Turkey, Syria, Persia, and India. 

Note 3. Anthropology, Philology and Lexicography. Missionary 
explorers have also gathered numerous notes on the racial character 
of the strange people with whom they have come in contact, such as 
the bushmen of Australia, the pygmy races of interior Africa, and the 
tribes of Zululand. Nassau of West Africa, Chalmers of New Guinea, 
Hulbert of Korea, and Jackson of Alaska are a few of the prominent 
names in this department of research. 

Possibly no branch of science, however, has been more enriched 
by missionaries than philology, which deals with the development 
and the structure of language. " Between missions and philology 
the connection is obvious and intimate." As missionaries have carried 
the Gospel to peoples who had no written language, and that means 
no alphabet nor even pictorial characters, they have been obliged 
to learn the language by using it and by slowly discovering the princi- 
ples of its construction. This achieved, they have provided a written 
alphabet, and have astonished the natives with the novelty of the 
idea. To many races the simple picture of a dog meant absolutely 
nothing. A missionary holding up such a picture would pronounce 
the word for dog and point at the picture, possibly tracing its outline. 
This might have to be repeated many times before the light would 
break and the eyes recognize the picture. Among such people the 
meaning of writing and reading could be but slowly grasped. With 
the reduction of languages to writing, the next step was the production 
of a grammar so that later missionaries and other foreigners could 
more readily master them. Such work, it is safe to say, has been 
accomplished by missionaries in a larger measure than by all other 
laborers combined. The Africans and the Pacific islanders have, in 
almost every instance, received their written languages from the hands 
of missionaries. In the compilation of dictionaries, also, the mis- 
sionaries hold a foremost place. English-Chinese dictionaries were 
unknown until compiled by a missionary, and upon his monumental 
dictionary of the Chinese language Dr. S. Wells Williams toiled steadily 
for eleven years. 



Forty-six Science and Missions 301 

Note 4. Zoology, Botany and Med.cine. Many missionaries have 
employed their spare moments in the study of plants and animals, 
and as a result have contributed much to the sum of scientific knowl- 
edge. Klein, the discoverer of the Moabite stone, was also famous 
for his collections of birds and insects, while he and his two colleagues, 
John and Rottler, " were so distinguished in their day for their scien- 
tific attainments that they were elected to eight learned societies in 
Europe." Rev. Adolphus C. Good, while laboring in West Africa, 
sent to America thousands of specimens of African moths and butter- 
flies, as a result of which scientists added to their lists of insects seventy- 
two new genera and five hundred and forty-seven species. The mu- 
seum of Amherst College was enriched by numerous zoological speci- 
mens, the gift of the Rev. Josiah Tyler of Zululand, and it was through 
American missionaries that the scientific world learned of the gorilla. 

Missionaries have also gathered valuable botanical field notes and 
floral collections. William Carey of India possessed an extensive 
botanical knowledge, contributed many articles to botanical and 
horticultural magazines, brought about the establishment of the 
Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, and was himself a 
fellow of the Linnean Society, and a corresponding member of the 
Horticultural Society of London. The Syrian Protestant College at 
Beirut has a rare collection of plants of Syria and the Sinaitic peninsula 
gathered by Dr. George E. Post. 

The contributions of missionaries to medical science have already 
been suggested in Lesson 41. It should be added, however, that 
numerous original researches have been prosecuted by missionary 
physicians, and the papers written by them to medical journals have 
greatly enriched our knowledge of Oriental diseases. In not a few 
instances, also, they have discovered valuable cures, and have success- 
fully coped with plagues and the ravages of depraved habits, notably 
the opium curse of China. 

Note 5. The Introduction of Scientific Appliances and Methods. 

The Orient is indebted to missionaries for the knowledge of many 
Western inventions. In hospital practice the use of anaesthetics, of 
surgical instruments, of scientific dressings and bandages, of disin- 
fectants, and of operating tables and equipment, have all been in- 
troduced by missionaries. Missionary physicians have built the first 
hospitals and given instruction in the fundamentals of sanitation and 
personal hygiene. In caring for the sick and the incapacitated, mis- 
sionaries have been the first, and for years the only, instructors the 
Orient has had. 



302 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Even in manufacture, though to a far less extent than in medicine, 
the missionaries have been advance agents of Western ideas. In 
their trade schools of India, China, and the Philippine Islands, they 
have introduced modern manufacturing devices. Among the first 
phonographs, bicycles, sewing machines, windmills, typewriters, and 
automobiles introduced into the East were those brought by mission- 
aries. 

Agriculture, too, has been greatly, advanced by these workers. 
Dr. S. B. Fairbanks of India, noted for his scientific attainments in 
botany and zoology, gave much time to teaching the natives how to 
till the soil most profitably. He taught them how to make and use 
an improved plow instead of the primitive one which they had used 
for centuries. In Africa, Robert Moffat (see Lesson 15, Note 2) in- 
troduced the cultivation of wheat, barley, potatoes, carrots, peas, 
and onions. It is said also that to " missionaries rather than to traders 
or government officials many tropical districts of Africa owe the in- 
troduction of the orange, lime, and mango, the cocoanut palm, cacao 
bean, and the pineapple." Largely as a result of the missionary 
agricultural schools, many thousand dollars' worth of agricultural 
machinery has been sent to the East. 

When one considers that these results, of which only a small part 
has been noted, are a mere by-product of missionary labor, it is in- 
teresting to note that they have nevertheless largely contributed to 
the happiness and the well-being of mankind. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(l) A missionary's treatise on China and the Chinese. Williams: 
The Middle Kingdom, 2 vols. (2) A general survey of the contribu- 
tions of foreign missions to science. Laurie : The Ely Volume: Missions 
and Science; and Keen : The Service of Missions to Science and Society. 
(3) Discovery and value of the Moabite stone. Hastings : Dictionary 
of the Bible, vol. iii, art. "Moab, Moabites." Also see indexes in re- 
cent volumes on Palestinian exploration or on the history of Israel. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. How recent is the modern missionary movement? 2. In what 
sort of church was it that modern missions had their origin? 3. Dur- 
ing what years was American missionary organization actively in 
progress? 4. What three prominent missionary movements are of 
recent origin? 5. What general topic covers the subjects of the next 
six lessons? 6. What is the subject of to-day's lesson? its object? 



Forty-six Science and Missions 303 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. Why did the earlier missionaries make more valuable contribu- 
tions to science than the later ones have made ? (Note 2.) 



2. Mention such missionary explorations as you can. 



3. How did Titus Coan contribute to scientific knowledge \ 



4. What is the Nestorian monument? the Moabite stone? 



5. Describe the work missionaries have done for people having no 
written language. (Note 3.) 



6. What contributions have missionaries made in the field of zo- 
ology? (Note 4.) 



7. Tell what you can of their work in botany. 



8. How have they advanced medical science ? 



9. How have industrial missions contributed to the advance of 
science? (Note 5.) 



304 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

10. What have missionaries done toward the introduction of modern 
agricultural ideas and implements? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Do the scientific contributions of missionaries indicate any 
neglect of missionary tasks? Why? 2. In which field of science do 
you think missionaries have been of most service to the world ? 3. To 
what extent do the scientific results of missions justify the whole 
expenditure? 4. In what ways could the missionaries of to-day aid 
in the advancement of scientific knowledge? 5. What place should 
scientific interests always hold in the life and work of the missionary? 

Mission Gem. " I believe the advancement of civilization, the 
extension of commerce, the increase of knowledge in art, science, and 
literature, the promotion of civil and religious liberty, the develop- 
ment of countries rich in undiscovered mineral and vegetable wealth, 
are all intimately identified with and, to a much larger extent than 
most people are aware of, dependent upon the work of the missionary, 
and I hold that the missionary has done more to civilize and to benefit 
the world than any and all other agencies combined." — Alexander 
Mc Arthur, M.P. 

Personal Thought. The " by-products " of missions have been of 
incalculable value to the world. Should not the Christian similarly 
cultivate as " by-products " of the individual life, cheer, culture, 
health and willing service? Consecration of spiritual resources de- 
mands that we do not waste these, lest the Christian life itself sustain 
heavy losses. 



Lesson 47. REFLEX ACTION ON THE HOME CHURCH. 
A Quickened Spirituality. 

Scripture Reading: The Divine Response to Human Liberality. Mai. 3:1-12. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show how missions, reacting 
upon the home forces, clarify the essential doctrines of the faith and re- 
fashion the character of the church, enlarging individual service and 
enriching Christian experience. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. How Missions Modify Faith and Doctrine. It is a note- 
worthy fact that the prosecution of the missionary enterprise has been 
followed by a series of reactions upon the church at home scarcely less 
remarkable than the results in foreign lands. Not the least of these is 
the influence which the propagation of the faith has upon that faith 



Forty-seven Reflex Action on the Home Church 305 

itself. Every endeavor to carry the Gospel to other peoples has re- 
vealed its larger meaning to ourselves. The West, with outstretched 
hands, has given back the old story to the East, and now the East is 
telling the West in unmistakable terms what that Eastern Book really 
means. The day is here to which the late Dr. Charles Cuthbert Hall 
referred when he said, " The Christianization of the world suggests a 
more complete and full-orbed interpretation of Christianity for the 
world when the East shall supplement and fulfil the West by con- 
tributing truth seen from her point of view. . . . When I permit my- 
self to contemplate the blessing that would come to the Western world 
if the great religious East were to become the teacher and the inter- 
preter of the religion of Jesus Christ, my heart burns within me." 

In the first place, then, the numerous questions asked by natives 
have forced missionaries to revise their conception of what consti- 
tutes essential Christianity. And these questions in turn have been 
brought home to the churches. As a consequence, the emphasis for- 
merly placed on the acceptance of creeds has been largely transferred 
to a living of the Christian life. 

Moreover, from this work the church has attained a new confidence 
in the power of the Gospel. The Christians of North America, in this 
materialistic age, are in danger of losing a sense of the presence and 
power of Christ. Nothing can so restore this lost sense as a knowledge 
of the triumphs of the mission field. A million heathen hearts made 
one through fellowship with Christ, pagan society obliterated from 
among hundreds of tribes, Sabbath convocations in place of war coun- 
cils, Christian trust in place of superstitious fear, Christian homes in 
place of heathen huts — these transformations wrought on countless 
mission fields bear unanswerable testimony to the reality of the Chris- 
tian faith, and the abiding power of the Christian's Lord. 

Note 3. Reflex Influence of Missions on the Life of the Church. 

The earliest missionary movements brought to the church a realization 
of its own powers unknown before, and every missionary quickening of 
more recent years has resulted in a similar revelation of the church's 
powers and opportunities. When missionaries were sent abroad they 
were sent by church organizations designed for missionary work, and 
the solicitation of missionary support forced upon all the churches a 
recognition of common interests and common purposes. Most of the 
great denominational organizations, even including the denomina- 
tional publishing houses, were called into existence by the missionary 
motive, and to-day these organizations are still supremely and pri- 
marily concerned with missions. 



306 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Moreover, missions and missionary organization have done much to 
stimulate the entire religious life of the church. Judson, writing from 
India, aroused American Baptists to new efforts in behalf of home 
missions. Dead pulpits have leaped into living oracles of divine truth 
with the promulgation of a missionary program. Many a minister 
has found his own salvation, and incidentally that of his congregation, 
in earnest attention to the motives, the heroic sacrifices and the mag- 
nificent triumphs of the missionary work. Church finances, too, have 
been revolutionized by missions, for it was this cause which urged the 
system of weekly giving. Missionary treasurers were first to see and 
announce that the churches strongest in missionary giving were 
strongest in their maintenance of home work. The rise of missionary 
interest in many churches has more than doubled the weekly collec- 
tions. The three strongest missionary churches in the Southern Bap- 
tist Convention reached their places of honor under the leadership of 
pastors who talked missions to their business men in a business-like way. 
One pastor, who had just received an increase in his salary, after mak- 
ing his appeal for missions, said he would begin the subscription by 
giving the amount of his increase. At once the church responded and 
gave to the cause with unprecedented liberality. There is not an 
up-to-date church whose financial system has not been largely or 
wholly determined by the missionary cause. One hundred and fifty- 
five Presbyterian churches which assumed the support of special mis- 
sionaries increased their annual gifts almost $65,000, while the same 
number of churches of like circumstances and ability, without such 
stimulus, decreased $7,967. 

Again, when a church is vitally interested in the advancement of 
the kingdom, the members are likely to congregate where they can hear 
the news of the kingdom. Church attendance will not only be en- 
couraged, it will be the natural order of the Christian life. The in- 
fluence will reach beyond the Sunday gatherings, and find its expres- 
sion in the prayer meeting. These services will take on a new life, as 
has been the case in thousands of instances, and the prayer life of 
the whole church, as it lends itself to intercession in behalf of the mis- 
sionaries and their work, will be immeasurably deepened. When a 
pastor's daughter decided to go to the foreign field, her father asked in 
astonishment, " How came you to think of going as a missionary?" 
" Why, father," she replied, " all my life I have heard you pray for 
foreign missions, and now I am going to answer your prayers." The 
reflex of missions upon the spiritual life and the religious activity of 
the whole church can scarcely be too strongly emphasized. In 
hundreds of instances people who formerly opposed foreign missions 



Forty-sevai Reflex Action on the Home Church 307 

have been converted and enlisted in missionary work simply by becom- 
ing informed concerning the enterprise. 

Missions have also contributed largely to the demolition of de- 
nominational barriers, and the creation of strong bonds of brother- 
hood and Christian unity. Most * interdenominational movements, 
which have laid so strong an accent upon the fellowship of all believers, 
have been wholly or in large measure given up to missionary endeavor. 
This is notably true of numerous young people's societies, not to speak 
of those movements to which special attention was given in Lesson 43. 
As a force making for the unification of Christianity, no other force can 
compare with the modern missionary propaganda. 

Note 4. How Missions have Modified Christian Character. What 
has been said in the foregoing notes suggests that the individual as well 
as the organized church has felt the potent and stirring influence of 
Christian missions. One of the most apparent effects of missions upon 
individual Christianity is a larger, a freer and a more intelligent ser- 
vice. The missionary enterprise has afforded a thousand opportuni- 
ties in young people's societies, King's Daughters circles, mission bands, 
and Sunday schools for definite, personal identification of the individ- 
ual with active Christian work. Missionary committees, missionary 
meetings, and missionary study classes have called out of the Christian 
ranks hundreds, yes, thousands of young men and young women who, 
in such forms of practical Christian work have been trained for stations 
of higher usefulness in the life of the church. Not through the assign- 
ment of church tasks alone, however, have these young people grown 
into Christian usefulness; the very subjects with which they have had 
to deal have inspired them to nobler living. No young man or young 
woman could possibly read the stirring narratives of heroic missionary 
service and not have his or her own life enriched, ambitions elevated, 
and life purposes modified, or totally changed perhaps, thereby. 
Missionary biographies are among the most inspiring narratives of all 
literature. The stories of such men as Lull, Martyn, Mackay, Patteson, 
or Keith Falconer have created in hundreds of lives mental impressions 
which time will be unable to obliterate. Thousands of young people, 
through a knowledge of mission work, have been won to give them- 
selves in heroic service on the field. Eighty per cent of recent volun- 
teers are said to have come from the ranks of mission study classes. 

This inspiration to service and active participation in the advance- 
ment of the kingdom has been accompanied by an increasingly intelli- 
gent comprehension of Christianity. The reality and the power of the 
faith is largely unrealized until seen through missions, which like a 



308 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



telescope turned on the skies of God's grace, brings infinite riches into 
view. Thus, such religious conceptions as the brotherhood of all men, 
the value of human life, the worth of a soul, the way of God's dealing 
with men, the universality of the Christian faith, the Fatherhood of 
God as extending over all nations, the social value of a redeeming 
Gospel, the relation of religion to civilization, commerce, and the his- 
tory of nations — all these are seen in new lights, receive fresh interpre- 
tations, and become more significant in Christian thought, through a 
knowledge of the spirit and the work of missions. 

As the essential truths and implications of Christianity become 
more clearly understood, the obligations of the faith are increasingly 
apparent, with the result that individual support of missions undergoes 
a similarly encouraging development. Indeed, the increased respon- 
siveness of the church to the missionary appeal, referred to in the pre- 
ceding note, is simply the sum of increased interest in and support of 
missions by individuals. 

The reflex influence of missions as thus seen in the clarification of 
our thought about Christian essentials, in the organized, vitalized and 
utilized life of the church, and in the development of individual 
Christianity, indicates strongly that the life of the church hangs upon 
loyalty to the missionary propaganda. A church forgetful of the Great 
Commission is practically a dead church. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) " When the Gospel comes back." Ellis : Men and Missions, ch. 
18. (2) "Missionary enterprise and its reflex influence." Adams: 
In Our Word and Work for Missions, ch. 13. (5) " The return- value 
of missions." Welsh: The Challenge to Christian Missions, ch. 11. 
(4) Concrete instances of the reflex of missions. Selections from cur- 
rent missionary magazines. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What is the contribution of missions to exploration? geography? 
archaeology? 2. How have missions enriched the data of anthro- 
pology? philology? lexicography? 3. Tell what you can of the influ- 
ence of missions upon commerce and manufacture. 4. What have 
missions done in behalf of scientific agriculture ? 5. To what branches 
of science have missions contributed most richly? 6. What is the 
subject of the present study? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. How will the Oriental interpretation of Christianity supplement 
the Occidental? (Note 2.) 



Forty-seven Reflex Action on the Home Church 309 

2. How have missions influenced our thought about the essential 
beliefs of Christianity ? 



3. Why have missions given to the church a new confidence in the 
power of the Gospel ? 



4. What influence has the enterprise had upon the self-consciousness 
of the church ? (Note 3.) 



5. How does the Moravian church conceive of its mission? 



6. How have missions affected the spiritual interests of the church ? 
the financial interests ? 



7. To what extent have missions cultivated an interdenominational 
sense of brotherhood? 



8. What has been the influence of missions upon individual Christian 
service? (Note 4.) 



9. What influence are missionary records calculated to have upon 
Christian ideals ? 



10. Does the reflex influence of missions alone justify all that k 
involved in the missionary undertaking? Why? 



310 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Justify the Moravian conception of the church's mission. Is the 
conception too one-sided? 2. In what respects do you think the 
Occidental interpretation of Christianity may be inadequate? 3. 
Mention a number of ways in which a hearty foreign missionary 
interest would react on the local church. 4. What is the relative 
value of the direct results and the reflex results of missions? 5. 
What is the relation of an active Christian service to a strong Christian 
life ? Must strength precede service, or is it the result of service ? 

JLission Gems. " Look at the religions in which the missionary 
spirit has been at work, and compare them with those in which any 
attempt to convince others is treated with pity or scorn. The former 
are alive; the latter are dead or dying." — Max Muller. 

" Nothing has done more for the churches at home than a great and 
abiding interest in the foreign work." — Peloubet. 

Personal Thought. Is my Christian life satisfactory to myself ? Are 
not some of its failures due to my narrow Christian sympathies, and 
is it not likely that an increased missionary interest would in many 
respects react profitably upon my daily thought and conduct? I will 
endeavor to increase my missionary interest and service. 



Lesson 48. INDIVIDUAL RENEWAL OF LIFE. The Suf- 
ficiency of Christ as Redeemer. 

Scripture Reading : The Living Water; the Bread from Heaven. Jo. 4: 9-14; 6:48-51. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show what is involved in being 
a Christian in the midst of heathenism, how the old life is displaced 
by a new life, and how this new life proves its vitality through self- 
propagation. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. The Christian Life in the Midst of Heathenism. We who 
live in free and happy America have no idea of the moral corruptions of 
heathen society. A missionary of India commenting on Hindu society, 
remarks that if a true narrative of conditions were written, only an evil 
spirit could produce the pictures, and " hell itself would be the only fit 
place in which to publish them, because in Christian lands eyes have 
not seen and ears have not heard of such things." In China, society 
is steeped in lies, and political life is honeycombed with corruption. 
It is not the way in China to accept a statement at its face value. The 
statement is regarded merely as an indication of what the speaker 
wishes to conceal. This spirit is so inbred into the very fibre of a 
Chinaman that a convert cannot readily cast it off. But in respect to 
the moralities and personal virtues, Chinese society offers us a picture 



Forty-eight Individual Renewal of Life 311 

comparable only to that of other fields sunk in darkest paganism. 
" There is no need in Chinese, as in English, to borrow from forgotten 
cities of antiquity names for the darker forms of vice. The language 
is amply provided with phrases of native growth, and in daily use by 
young and old, to describe them all." But the shame of it is hardly 
felt by the Chinese. And what we have said of the social life of India 
and China might be said with equal propriety of almost every non- 
Christian land. 

Out of such conditions a thousand temptations arise to draw the 
new convert from his faith. Conversion in India, China, Africa, 
Turkey, brings a host of trials, scoffs, persecutions, which the convert 
in America never knows, and can but faintly imagine. In India he 
must be witness to many impure scenes ; in China it is almost impos- 
sible to escape the atmosphere of dishonesty in which he has been 
reared; in Africa he can never wholly free himself from superstition, 
and in Turkey the social customs of all his people are in opposition to 
the standards of Christianity. But it is not against these, powerful 
as they are, that the convert wages his fiercest struggle. Into the 
conflict are drawn all the friends, relatives, business associates, and 
even the entire caste or tribe to which the convert belongs. Social 
ostracism in the more heathen countries is complete, though in ad- 
vanced countries such as Japan it is considerably modified. Never- 
theless, in India the intellectual advancement seems to have done only 
a little toward the abatement of this cruel and rigorous custom. To 
break caste by becoming a Christian is regarded as the greatest evil, 
and the disgrace is keenly felt by the entire community. No means 
to prevent such a catastrophe is too extreme, and hence the mis- 
sionaries are forced to exercise the most stringent measures to pro- 
tect inquirers from the malicious designs of their caste associates. 
" The convert has to be prepared for the loss of parents and their 
tender affection; of brothers and sisters, relatives and friends; of wife 
and children, if he has any; of his birthright, social position, means 
of livelihood, reputation, and all the power which hides behind the 
magic word caste; of all that he is taught from his childhood to hold 
as sacred." These are the words, not of a missionary, but of an 
educated Hindu, converted to Christianity, who in his own experience 
knows whereof he speaks. 

Mohammedan intolerance in North Africa is reported as being so 
desperate that " men will compass the death of their own brothers, 
either by open violence or by secret poisoning, rather than see them 
become Christians." Almost every missionary field presents such 
conditions as have been here described. 



312 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

Note 3. The Old Life and the New. Missions have justified their 
characterization as " the modern miracle." In no other phase of 
the enterprise is the miraculous element more in evidence than in the 
marvelously changed lives of the converts. On the foreign field more 
than at home, Christianity means a distinct break with the old things, 
a departure upon a new life. The habits, the ideals, the sacred rites 
and the social functions of a. lifetime are relinquished, and a wholly 
new set of motives and ideals are accepted. When we consider the 
unchanging character of Oriental beliefs, customs and ideals, and the 
seeming uselessness of arguing with a Chinaman against the importance 
he attaches to a grave site, or with a Hindu against the caste system, 
or with a Mohammedan as to the inconsistencies of the Koran, it is an 
amazing thing that we should courageously undertake the task of 
persuading these people to relinquish the faith of their fathers, and 
accept a religion professed by strangers, aliens, and even enemies. 
And yet this very endeavor is successful beyond the power of human 
minds to understand. Though the cost of becoming a Christian in 
foreign lands is so full of bitterness, heartbreak, persecution and social 
ostracism, thousands upon thousands have gladly paid the price. 
Many have been called upon to seal their profession of the new faith 
with their lives. In only relatively few instances have any converts 
recanted under threat of death, and even in these cases such were the 
pitiable circumstances, as in the Boxer uprising of 1900 and the re- 
peated Armenian atrocities, that one finds it difficult indeed un- 
qualifiedly to condemn the action. (See Lesson 19, Note 3.) 

These improvements in personal character are followed by efforts 
on the part of the converts to improve their surroundings. They 
exercise greater care in respect to clothing and cleanliness. The 
Christian gatherings, such as church assemblies and Sunday schools, 
are noticeably above the non-Christian assemblies in point of ap- 
pearance, orderliness, and intelligent interest. The reason is found in 
the new Christian motives that are at work within the individuals. 
In Uganda all Christians are expected to know how to read their 
Bibles, in Korea the Bible classes set an example to all Christendom, 
in the Congo region the Christian is expected to establish a non- 
heathen type of home and family. Christianity by thus lifting each 
native Christian above the former social level leads to the gradual 
uplifting of the entire community. 

These moral and social changes are wrought only by slow and patient 
endeavor, much instruction, and not a few failures. But at last the 
contrast between the old and new stands out in almost startling dis- 
tinctness. The Christian community becomes a center of culture in 



Forty-eight Individual Renewal of Life 313 

which the converts learn that the new faith must purify thought, 
sanctify action, and bring private and public life under the rule of the 
Christian ideal. This is a long step from heathenism, and demands 
of the convert much courage, tenacity, and sincerity. As a conse- 
quence the converts as a class stand head and shoulders above their 
fellows as regards their general intelligence, manliness, and ability. 

Note 4. Native Propagation of the New Life. The character of the 
native converts is attested by their vital interest in the practical con- 
cerns of the kingdom, and its extension. Children disowned by their 
parents do not forsake them, but persistently and kindly fulfil their 
obligations to them, and in multitudes of cases win them to Christ. 
" In [Korea] that land of Christian romance, it is quite a common 
practice for a man to move his family and his business to another 
village which contains no Christians, in order there to live and preach 
the Gospel." Among friends and acquaintances a like process goes 
on, each convert becoming an evangelist or personal worker. At 
first the progress of the native church is slow, but gradually it gathers 
momentum until at last it advances by leaps and bounds. Thus in 
China the growth of the church during the twenty-five years from 
1850 to 1875 was duplicated eight times over from 1875 to 1900. 
Figures showing a still greater contrast between the early and the later 
work might be given for some of the mission fields, notably those of 
Africa and the Pacific islands. 

Equally remarkable is the interest which these converts from 
heathenism manifest in organized missionary endeavor. On most of 
the foreign fields there are already established native home and foreign 
missionary societies. In Japan the native Christian church is doing 
a large home missionary work. In Africa the spirit of .missions in- 
spired the Zulus to undertake a like work, and gave to Asser, the 
Basuto evangelist, the zeal to plead before his people in behalf of the 
neighboring tribe of Banyai : " Oh ! why could I not cut off my arms 
and my legs, and make every limb of mine a missionary to these poor 
Banyai?" It gave to the South African Christians of Blythwood, 
who in their first contributions piled $7,500 on the table, the self- 
sacrifice entailed in contributing over $22,000 in six years for the ex- 
tension of Christianity. To such acts of Christian devotion, the 
churches of our homeland can offer no parallel. Yet even these 
figures pale before the story of what is being done in Korea. There, 
the daily wage is from fifteen to forty cents, and living expenses are in 
proportion, so that " saving up " is almost impossible. Nevertheless, 
one church of 380 members in a single year has given an average per 



314 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

member of over ten dollars in gold, while the Christians connected 
with another mission, too poor to give money as they would like, 
have contributed a total of over eight thousand work days in one year 
for evangelistic work. It is not surprising that that mission recorded 
an average of almost one hundred baptisms and 453 conversions per 
month, the converts being accepted on probation for one year before 
receiving baptism. The zeal to join the church is so great that 
the missionaries are forced to exercise the utmost care in admitting 
applicants to membership. This shows how the church grows where 
the Gospel is taken at its full face value, and where the missionary 
ideal has laid hold of the hearts of all the church members. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Christian character in the Chinese church. Gibson: Mission 
Problems and Mission Methods in South China, ch. 10. (2) Missions 
as the creating agency of a new type of individual character. Dennis : 
Christian Missions and Social Progress, vol. ii, pp. 11-24, 42-62, 
104-176. (3) Christ as Redeemer of the individual. Any of the 
hundreds of brief character sketches of native Christians issued by 
the various boards. (4) How some Chinese Christians stood the test 
of Boxer troubles. Broomhall : Martyred Missionaries of the China 
Inland Mission, passim. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What important result of missions did we consider in the last 
study? 2. Tell how missions have affected the Christian thought at 
home. 3. What is the usual fate of non-missionary churches ? 4. To 
what extent does missionary interest cultivate the Christian life? 
5. What is the subject of to-day's lesson ? its object? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is the character of heathen society? (Note 2.) 



2. To what extent is the convert able to break entirely from the 
past? 



3. What national trait in China makes it difficult to cultivate a 
habit of honesty ? 



Forty-eight Individual Renewal of Life 315 

4. How is the conversion of a Hindu regarded by other members of 
the caste? 



5. Does the spread of secular education, as in India, affect the lot 
of the convert? 



6. What are some of the characteristics of the East which make the 
acceptance of a new religion unusually difficult? (Note 3.) 



7. How do the converts endeavor to alter their surroundings ? 



8. What is the influence of Christianity upon the native Christian 
community ? 



9. How do the converts show their faith in the new religion ? (Note 
4.) 



10. How have, the native churches shown their interest in organized 
missionary work? 



11. Mention some instances of zeal in missionary work. 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. What bearing do missions have upon the question of the Gospel's 
claims respecting its own power? Upon the validity of the self- 
revelations of Jesus? 2. How do the difficulties that follow con- 
version in heathen lands compare with those in America? 3. In what 
sense can modern missions be regarded as miraculous? 4. How does 
the influence of a body of Christians in the midst of heathenism com- 



316 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



pare with the influence of a similar body at home? In what ways 
could the latter body employ its influence more effectively than is now 
generally done? 

Mission Gem. " While vast continents are shrouded in almost 
utter darkness, and hundreds of millions suffer the horrors of heathen- 
ism or of Islam, the burden of proof lies upon you to show that the 
circumstances in which God has placed you were meant by Him to 
keep you out of the foreign field." — Hon. Ion Keith- Falconer. 

Personal Thought. If Jesus can be such a power as He is in the 
lives of thousands of native converts, can He not be a vastly greater 
power in my life than at present ? The real question is, Do I want Him 
to exercise this greater power over my life ? 



Lesson 49. SOCIAL REGENERATION. Power of Christi- 
anity to Purify Society. 

Scripture Reading: The Day of Jehovah's Exaltation. Is. 2:2-17. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show how Christian missions 
have influenced family life, civil governments, industrial and com- 
mercial developments, and popular morality. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Christian Influence on Family Life. At a time such as the 
present when many are criticising the church for not grappling more 
forcibly with modern social problems, it may be well to call attention 
to " her splendid record as the foremost force of history in the wide 
field of social reform and moral progress." No other organization 
has ever worked so nobly and effectively for the uplifting of the human 
race. The transformations which the church wrought in the early 
centuries among the Romans, the Gauls, the Teutons, and more recently 
among the Anglo-Saxon peoples, she is now bringing about in non- 
Christian lands all the world over. 

The first of these relates to the family. In early times when war- 
fare was common, safety demanded that the entire strength of the 
tribe be united against an enemy. Thus the tribe became the principal 
unit of society. Within the tribe the social unit was the family. 
The organization of both was along similar lines, authority being 
vested in the oldest male members. With various modifications this 
type of social organization has prevailed throughout most of the East 
until this day. What in early times, however, was a means of pro- 
tection against enemies, serves to-day only as a powerful barrier 



Forty-nine Social Regeneration 317 

against progress. Thus in India the family is still regarded as more 
important than the individual. The household consists of the three 
generations, the eldest parents, their sons, and their sons' families. All 
things are held in common, and since all members belong to the same 
caste, they all do the same work, and all funds go into the common 
purse. Individuality and originality are suppressed. It is only within 
recent years that a bill granting property rights to individuals passed 
the Madras legislature. " Mine " and " yours " are new terms in 
Indian jurisprudence. This legislation, which reflects the Christian 
emphasis on the rights and the responsibilities of the individual rather 
than the family, deals a heavy blow at the vicious caste system of 
which the family organization is an essential part. What is here 
said of the family life of India could be said with some modification 
of the clan system in some parts of China, and the tribal organizations 
of certain sections of Africa. In Mohammedan lands, the wholly 
different conception of the family as the sole property of the man 
degrades woman, and is utterly at variance with Christian ideas. Here 
the introduction of Christianity and the opening of Christian schools 
for female education is revolutionizing the social position of woman, 
and that means the reorganization of the family. The Oriental prac- 
tices of polygamy and concubinage, adultery and divorce, child 
marriage and infanticide, are breaking down and a new family life is 
growing up. The Christian home is one of Christianity's greatest 
contributions to the world's welfare. 

Note 3. Christian Influence upon the State. The annals of mission- 
ary history are crowded with narratives showing the dependence of 
kings and princes upon missionaries in the shaping of state policies. 
Hundreds of missionaries have been counsellors, diplomats, and 
statesmen of no mean ability. They have served as intermediaries 
in international disputes, have aided civil governments in making 
important investigations, and have drafted countless reform measures 
in their adopted lands. Probably Dr. Verbeck did more for Japan 
than any other alien ever did for a strange and unknown people. It 
was he who paved the way for the appointment of an imperial deputa- 
tion to visit America and the European countries, thus disclosing to the 
Japanese the marvels of Western civilization and leading them into 
first place among the Oriental nations. Dr. Allen in Korea, Messrs. 
Schwartz and Carey in India, and Livingstone and Mackay in Africa 
influenced beneficially the national life of the tribes and nations where 
they worked. In China Dr. H. C. Du Bose, after conference with the 
governor-general of the River Provinces, set in motion the anti-opium 



318 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

crusade, sent petitions to four hundred and fifty cities and obtained 
for these petitions almost fifteen hundred names. These petitions 
being sent to the Imperial Office at Peking received favorable con- 
sideration and in a few months the noteworthy decree ordering the 
discontinuance of the use of opium was issued. 

But more than this, the new civilization for which Christianity 
stands, forbids that in any country where Christian missions are 
established, ancient pagan ideas of the function of government shall 
longer abide. Thus the civil tyranny exercised in Turkey and the 
combination of graft and extortion in China break down as Christian 
ideas take root. The system of taxation in Turkey, China, Korea and 
Persia is oppressive beyond measure, while enforced labor on govern- 
ment lands in Africa, especially in the Congo basin, has been attended 
with horrible cruelty. Against these evils the protests of missionaries 
have been heard and they are being gradually abated. The Christian 
idea of justice, likewise, is displacing Oriental laxity and abuse of the 
courts. The judges in the countries just mentioned are notoriously 
corrupt and bribes are considered a legitimate part of their income. 
But such customs are at variance with the Christian ideal, and gen- 
erally where the influence of missions is strongest are least in evidence. 
As Christianity makes its protest more powerfully felt, these cor- 
ruptions in civil administration must pass away. 

Note 4. Christian Influence upon Commerce and Business. A 

third influence of Christian missions upon human society is seen in 
the relation of missions to a quickened industry and an expanding 
commerce. Wherever missionaries have gone new interest in com- 
merce and industry has been awakened and the products of the 
Occident have found new markets. The erection of buildings accord- 
ing to Western plans gives to the natives many new and helpful ideas. 
In tropical countries new fashions in dress are introduced and the 
cotton cloth of England and America finds a ready sale. The early 
establishment of the mission press has created a demand for literature 
and added the printer's trade to the small list generally practised in 
heathen communities. Education has opened up the minds of a new 
generation to great possibilities in engineering, trades, professions 
and business. Banking houses are established, factories built, high- 
ways of travel constructed and the once pagan and uncivilized people 
introduced into the brotherhood of nations. All this cannot be 
credited to missions, and yet for all this they led the way. Where a 
nation discards Christianity, its civilization remains stagnant, but 
where Christian missions have helped to create a new national life 



Forty-nine Social Regeneration 319 

the advantages of a wholesome Christian civilization follow. The 
reason is not far to seek, for the only foundation sufficiently strong to 
sustain a twentieth century civilization must be composed of principles 
which are essentially Christian. 

In many instances the missions have been direct contributors to 
industrial progress of a high order. Thus in India, China, and the 
Philippines, industrial education has done much to provide the 
countries with efficient artizans, tradesmen, and agriculturists. The 
same may be said of a number of like institutions operated as home 
mission enterprises in this country. It is said that simply as a result 
of agricultural teaching in mission schools of Turkey, enough agri- 
cultural machinery has been sent from the United States into the 
Ottoman Empire to justify, financially, the entire expenditure laid 
out on Turkish missions. Doubtless statements similar to this could 
be produced with respect to the commercial value of missions in other 
fields. The conclusion that missions have been of great value in the 
commercial and economic development of the Orient cannot, there- 
fore, be lightly set aside. 

Note 5. Christian Influence upon Popular Morality. Another im- 
portant influence of missions is the uplifting of popular standards of 
morality. In non-Christian lands there is slight recognition of even 
the first principles of decency. Vice, immorality and unseemly con- 
duct are common. The popular religions frequently minister to the 
baser passions of the devotees; such literature as may exist generally 
contains much that is obscene; the popular festivals and holy days 
are often carnivals of shameless revelry. Lying and cheating, drink- 
ing and gambling, laziness and shiftless habits combine to make non- 
Christian society repulsive. While these allegations must not be 
made too sweeping or of universal application, any missionary can 
testify to their general truth. In the midst of such a society Christian 
missions make a strong appeal for purer thought and purer lives. 
The missionaries in thousands of communities have seen a gradual 
change come over the heathen community as the people have been led 
out of darkness into the marvelous light. Lifelong habits of savagery 
have been given up, slavery has been suppressed, and the common 
virtues of civilized society have been cultivated. The steady gleam 
of the Gospel beacon, the persistent preaching of the Gospel message, 
the patient perseverance in the Gospel life all act powerfully upon 
heathenism until at last the old code breaks down, the old ways are 
forsaken, and a new people is born into the kingdom of our God. He 
who gave the great commission is He who exerts this power and stands 



320 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

forth on the mission field in the clear full light of the conquering 
Christ. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) The place of missions in the development of peoples. War- 
neck: Modern Missions and Culture. (2) Some direct contributions 
of missions to human society. Dennis: Christian Missions and Social 
Progress, 3 vols. (3) Morality and religion. Clarke: Ten Great Re- 
ligions, vol. 2, ch. 10. (4) The appeal of foreign missions to business 
communities. Storrs: Addresses on Foreign Missions, pp. 103-117. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What was the subject of the last study? 2. What difficulties 
follow conversion in most non-Christian lands? 3. What effect does 
conversion have upon personal character and habits? 4. How do 
the native converts manifest their loyalty to the new faith? 5. Tell 
what you can of native organized missionary endeavor on mission 
fields. 6. What is the subject of the present study? its object? 



2.) 



QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. How has the church been related to social development? (Note 



2. What was the primitive social uniti 



3. To what extent is the primitive constitution of society still pre- 
served in the Orient? Illustrated 



4. What common practices in respect to the family life of the Orient 
are given up as Christianity is established? 



5. How have missionaries contributed to the progress of civil 
government (Note 3) ? Illustrate. 



Forty-nine Social Regeneration 321 

6. In what countries has the spreading of Christian ideas changed 
the character of government? In what respect has the character 
been changed? 



7. Mention some ways in which missions have stimulated business. 
(Note 4.) 



8. What have literature and mission schools done for the commercial 
development of non-Christian countries? 



9. Why is Christianity necessary to a twentieth century civilization ? 



10. What have missions done for industrial progress: 



11. How has Christianity influenced popular morality? (Note 5.) 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Why is the Christian conception of the family superior to the 
conceptions prevalent in the Orient? 2. How does Christianity 
stimulate individual development in heathen lands? 3. What is the 
proper relation of religion to the state? 4. How do you account 
for the close relation which seems to exist between civilization and 
Christianity? 5. What purely secular appeal could you use to interest 
a business man in missions ? 6. What is the relation between religion 
and morality? 

Mission Gem. " Obedience to Christ begins by giving Him supreme 
leadership over life; it ends only in sharing His plan to redeem the 
whole world." — Bishop William F. McDowell. 

Personal Thought. As a Christian I claim to have given Christ 
supreme leadership in my life. Yet am I not often unresponsive when 
He would lead me into larger service ? Have I not a tendency to shirk 
my share of the world conquest for Christ? 



322 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



Lesson 50. MOLDING NATIONAL DESTINIES. How they 
are Affected by the Missionary Enterprise. 

Scripture Reading: The Divine Rule on Earth. Is. 9:1-7; 52:1-10. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To show the part Christian missions 
have taken in the modern awakening of the Oriental nations. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Religion as a Factor in National Development. The bearing 
of religion upon national character and development has been a sub- 
ject of frequent comment by persons who have made a study of races, 
their customs and religious beliefs. Among the non-Christian peoples 
almost every act is fraught with deep religious significance. No 
journey is undertaken, no agreement made, often no household duties 
performed without the repetition of the appropriate and necessary 
prayers. In India the entire structure of national life is shaped by 
religion. Caste is itself a deeply-rooted religious institution determin- 
ing the occupations of men, women, and children. It is impossible 
to name a single institution in the life of India that is not in some way 
related to religion. 

Buddhism, too, like Hinduism, lays its heavy hand upon the plastic 
nature of the Orient, encouraging a disregard of conduct if only religious 
merit is earned (comp. Lesson 4, Note 5). Just as there must be some 
connection between Christianity and the rise of modern civilization, so 
also it is only reasonable to see a connection between Buddhism and 
the blighted national life of Burma, Assam, China and the Malay 
archipelago. Subtly,, almost imperceptibly, Taoism, Confucianism, 
Buddhism, Shintoism, and Mohammedanism have poisoned the na- 
tional life of China, Japan, and Turkey. Similarly, a degenerate Chris- 
tianity in the Philippines, in Cuba, Porto Rico and South America, 
places an unmistakable stamp upon the social life, the intellectual 
attainments, and the national character of these countries. The reason 
for this close relation between religion and national life is to be found 
in the influence of religion upon the individual. A man's beliefs, his 
fears, his gods, his prayers, his conception of the hereafter, all play 
their part in shaping his ideas of right and wrong, of duty and pleasure, 
his customs, his private and his public life. It is the sum of these indi- 
vidual traits which constitutes the national character. Hence the 
stolidity of the Chinese, the patriotism of the Japanese, the fanaticism 
of the Turk, and the childlike simplicity of the African. 

In view of these considerations, it is not difficult to see why Christian 
peoples have advanced in civilization. The moral code of Christianity 
does not suffice, however, to account for the progress of Christian 



F Mv Molding National Destinies 323 

nations. The cause lies in the spiritual power which springs from the 
relation of the individual Christian to the living Christ. This relation 
Jesus described when He said, " If a man love me, he will keep my 
word ; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and 
make our abode with him." It is the abiding Presence that under- 
lies Christian civilization, and makes it a transforming power in the 
world. 

Note 3. Education as a Factor in National Development. Among 
the secular forces which Christian missions have introduced into non- 
Christian lands, none has been more effective in molding national 
destinies than education. The mission schools, academies, and col- 
leges exercise a profound influence upon at least three phases of 
the national life. First, upon the popular estimate of the individual 
and of the state. How education is breaking down caste in India 
and putting a higher value on the individual has already been men- 
tioned (Lesson 49, Note 2). A similar change is in process in China, 
where even to-day nobody feels called on to interfere if an angry 
father kills a disrespectful son, or a mother rids herself of an unwelcome 
baby girl. But these pagan customs are gradually giving way before 
the spread of Christian education. So also the popular conception of 
the state and of the function of government is being modified by 
Western ideas. No longer is a tyrannical government permitted 
to disregard the rights of the citizens. The obligation of the state to 
the people is seen to be as important as the obligation of the people 
to the state. It is thus evident that the introduction of Western 
education by the missionaries is gradually evolving a new type of 
citizenship in the East, and introducing republican ideals and insti- 
tutions (see Lesson 18, Note 4). 

The educational work of missions has also created an appetite for 
higher learning and for the advantages of civilization. To acquire 
these, a multitude of young Chinese, Japanese, Turks and Hindus 
have been seeking to slake their thirst for knowledge at Western 
fountains of learning. As a consequence, each recent year has wit- 
nessed the return to these countries of bands of educated men — 
men of tried intellects and of trained genius. They have found ready 
government employment as commissioners of education, engineers 
of railway construction, special advisers in civil offices, and as prom- 
inent workers in other capacities too numerous to mention. But one 
and all have greatly helped to develop the national resources, establish 
native industries, and extend the nation's commerce. 

Finally, education has given rise to a professional class of workers 



324 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



such as jurists, legal advisers, pastors of churches, physicians, teachers, 
and journalists. The influence of such men upon the national life h 
almost beyond computation, and it had its origin in the missionary 
enterprise. By the labors of these workers, every home in vast 
empires will be quickened into new life. Before another generation 
has gone, a quarter of the population of the world will have been 
revolutionized, will be enjoying a new civilization, undertaking new 
enterprises, and millions of these will also be rejoicing in a new faith, 
singing new hymns and laying new plans for the universal reign of 
Christ. The character of the national life will be like that of the 
education which shapes it. If the East is to be Christian, the church 
must make sure that the education is Christian also. 

Note 4. The Stirring of the Nations. East and West are alike 
undergoing vast and, in some instances, violent transformations as a 
result of forces released within a half century. In the Western hemi- 
sphere the United States is coming into her majority, Canada is feel- 
ing the pulsations of a new and growing life in her mighty West, 
Mexico has entered the councils of the nations, and South America is 
on the threshold of a new era. The transandine railway (see Lesson 
27, Note 4), now completed, and the Panama canal, will furnishnew 
commercial routes and help to change the national life of the South 
American peoples. These countries will also need to be Christianized 
if they would cultivate an enduring civilization. Already this process 
has begun, and to it must be credited much of the progress already- 
made. But almost boundless expansion of population, industry, and 
commerce lies in the future, and it is the privilege of the Christian 
church, if she will, to shape the civilization that must take the place 
of a degenerate society and a misconceived republicanism. So also in 
Porto Rico and in the island republic of Cuba, the church is engaged 
in the magnificent work of Christianizing a rising civilization, and all 
who support the various missions thus engaged are sharers in this 
noble enterprise. 

Even more rapid and startling, however, are those transforma- 
tions which are moving like a mighty tidal wave over the' nations of 
the East. Modern Japan is not fifty years old, yet she has suddenly 
gained pre-eminence among the people of the East, and has firmly 
established her right to a place among the major powers of the world. 
Old China is dying, and a new China is being fashioned with astonish- 
ing rapidity. Society, business, government, all are being ruthlessly 
overturned, age-long traditions disregarded, and the institutions of 
centuries swept aside that new forces and new ideals may step in and 



Fi ^y Molding National Destinies 325 

possess the land. Similarly, the outworn fabric of ancient India is 
being cast aside for a new pattern fashioned by Western thought and 
industries. Turkey is passing through an agonizing hour. Her 
young men are laying the foundations of a new and better empire. 
The authority of the Koran in civil affairs is seriously questioned, and 
the whole Moslem world is in a state of seething unrest — a groping for 
better things than can come out of Mohammedanism. Persia, too, 
and Egypt, are looking to the future with an earnest longing for the 
larger life which Christian nations know. Missionaries who are in the 
midst of this upheaval are only vaguely conscious of the issues in which 
they are having a part. The world has never before witnessed such 
changes, and we who are looking on may well stand in reverent awe, 
for probably the world will never see the like again. 

But whence all this revolution? By what subtle power is the 
world being turned upside down? A thousand testimonies from 
every mission field afford the answer. "If it had not been for the 
missionaries, these things could never have been." This is the wit- 
ness of Japanese statesmen, of shrewd Chinese observers, of Hindu 
judges and professors, and of leaders in the Young Turk party. Mis- 
sionaries have not done it all, but they have unbarred the gates and 
the children of a Christian civilization have come trooping in. Once 
more Christianity is proving its power to revolutionize the world, and 
by so doing is proving also its truth and power. It is now the church's 
plain duty to save the strength and resources of these peoples for the 
kingdom of Christ. 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(j) The influence of Christianity upon the East. Speer : Missions and 
Politics in Asia. (2) Rise of the spirit of nationalism in the Orient. 
Mott: Modern World Movements, a pamphlet obtainable from the 
Laymen's Missionary Movement. (3) "The awaking world." Ellis: 
Men and Missions, ch. 2. (4) Latest political, industrial and religious 
developments on the mission fields. See indexes of popular magazines 
and religious journals. A week does not pass without bringing some 
significant news from these distant parts of the world. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. To what extent have Christian missions accomplished social re- 
generation? 2. What is the Christian type of family? 3. In what 
respects has the spread of Christian ideas affected non-Christian views 
of government? 4. In what ways have missionaries contributed to 
the growth of commerce and industry ? 5. What has been the influence 



826 The Conquering Christ 



Lesson 



of missions upon popular morality in non-Christian lands? 6. With 
what result of missions is the present study concerned? 7. State the 
object of the lesson. 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What influence has religion upon national character? (Note 2.) 



2. How is this illustrated in India? in Mohammedan lands? 



3. What is the real reason for the progress of Christian nations! 



4. What department of mission work has particularly helped to mold 
national life ? (Note 3.) 



5. How has christian education affected the popular estimate of the 
value of human life? Illustrate. 



6. How has education modified Eastern ideas of government? 



7. What have educational missions done for native educational 
methods ? 



8. What new class of workers has recently arisen in non-Christian 
lands ? 



9. What is the international outlook for progress in the Western 
hemisphere? (Note 4.) 



Fifty-one T i le World Kingdom of Christ 327 

10. Of what importance is it that these countries shall be dominated 
by Christian influences ? Why ? 



11. What Eastern nations have recently undergone revolutionary 
changes ? What is the outlook ? 



12. Under these circumstances what is the church's duty? 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Does religion play a sufficiently important part in the life of 
America ? 2. Mention some respects in which religion has influenced 
your own character; the character of your community; of the state; 
of the nation. 3. When may public education be more harmful than 
ignorance? 4. What interest does the state endanger by refusing to 
permit religious teaching in public schools ? 5. What do the national 
transformations now going on suggest as to the opportunities before 
the Christian church? 

Mission Gem. " No one can study the movement of modern civili- 
zation from an impartial standpoint and not realize that Christianity 
and the spread of Christianity are the only basis for hope." — President 
William H. Taft. 

Personal Thought. This study suggests the far-reaching influence 
of individuals who have accepted many of the elements of a Christian 
civilization. In proportion as my life realizes the Christian ideal 
it will increase its influence for good among my fellows. Is my life as 
influential for righteousness as it should be? 



Lesson 51. THE WORLD KINGDOM OF CHRIST. Its 

Characteristics and its Cost. 

Scripture Reading: " The Reign of the Righteous King." Ps. 72. 
Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To define the world kingdom of 
Christ and to state some of the essential characteristics of human 
society when that era shall draw near its realization. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 
Note 2. The World Kingdom of Christ Defined. The world king- 
dom of Christ is an ideal. It may never, perhaps, be fully attained, 



328 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

but human society may approximate to its standards. From the 
beginning it seems to have been in the mind of God ; hints and glim- 
merings of the longed-for era flash out from the writings of the Hebrew 
seers and even find dim expression in the works of pagan authors. 
Though the Jews themselves, as a nation, were largely unconscious 
of the fact, their faith was always, fundamentally, a universal faith, 
for while they conceived of Jehovah as peculiarly their God, they 
nevertheless recognized Him as the God above all gods. In the later 
prophetic writings the relation of the Jewish nation to a universal 
redemption seems clearly recognized, even though we admit that the 
national hopes of the writers forbade an exact explanation of how this 
relation was to be realized. They saw chiefly a temporal and political 
relation ; fulfilled prophecy has revealed in Christ and in Christianity 
an eternal and a spiritual fulfilment in which the whole world lies 
debtor to the Jew. 

This universal spiritual kingdom thus foreshadowed has been 
gradually working toward its fulfilment. The passion of Christ was 
for the redemption of a world, and the relation that His disciples 
were to bear to the world was ever present in His thought. In the 
great prayer of Jesus (Jo. ch. 17), the world is mentioned eighteen 
times and the earnest petition for Christian unity (vs. 21) is based on 
the plea " that the world may believe that thou didst send me.." In 
the earliest extension of the faith, one of the most striking phenomena 
was the rise of a spiritual brotherhood — a Christian democracy within 
the Roman empire, a republic in which race, color, or social standing 
had no bearing upon the question of citizenship. A bond had at last 
been found which was equal to the task of uniting strangers and aliens 
and making of many races one people in Christ. For two thousand 
years this spiritual force has been at work, and only now is a divided 
Christendom beginning to labor for the great consummation for which 
Christ prayed. Racial, political, social, and religious antagonisms 
are breaking down before the silent advance of Christ's rule in human 
lives, and the united prayer ascends from the church universal for the 
speedy advent of that " golden day " of which Dr. Charles A. Dickin- 
son has written: 

" O golden day, so long desired, 

Born of a darksome night, 
The waiting earth at last is fired 

By thy resplendent light. 
And hark ! like Memnon's morning chord 

Is heard from sea to sea 
This song: One Master, Christ the Lord; 

And brethren all are we. 

" The noises of the night shall cease, 
The storms no longer roar; 



Fifty-one The World Kingdom of Christ 329 

The factious foes of God's own peace 

Shall vex His church no more. 
A thousand thousand voices sing 

The surging harmony; 
One Master, Christ; one Saviour-King; 

[And brethren all are we. 

" Sing on, ye chorus of the morn, 

Your grand endeavor strain, 
Till Christian hearts estranged and torn, 

Blend in His glad refrain; 
And all the church, with all its powers, 

In loving loyalty 
Shall sing: One Master, Christ, is ours; 

And brethren all are we. 

" O golden day, the ages' crown, 

Alight with heavenly love, 
Rare day in prophecy renown, 

On to thy zenith move. 
When all the world, with one accord, 

In full-voiced unity 
Shall sing: One Master, Christ, our Lord; 

And brethren all are we." 

Note 3. Some Essential Characteristics of the Kingdom and its Cost. 

While the ideal kingdom will probably never be fully established upon 
earth, the approximation to it will come about through the spread of 
the Christian faith and its application to social problems. Two of 
its essential characteristics will be a changed spiritual order and a 
changed industrial order, the latter going hand in hand with the 
former. The changed spiritual order will be a united Christian 
world. This does not mean that there will be no room for differences 
of opinion and of practice in matters of the faith. Within all Christian 
denominations are members holding diverse doctrinal views, and in 
a united Christianity this situation must necessarily prevail to a still 
greater extent. But this diversity of opinion will no longer be charac- 
terized by antagonism. In place of discord there will be harmony; 
and a broad, earnest Christian sympathy, a deep respect for the feel- 
ings and convictions of others, will take possession of all people. In 
this kingdom, swords shall be beaten into plowshares, and spears into 
pruning-hooks ; " nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
shall they learn war any more." The reign of universal peace will 
be realized. 

Likewise, in this kingdom, righteousness will be general throughout 
the whole earth. It will be no mere formal righteousness, but a right- 
eousness of the heart, that will control the deeper springs of human 
nature, cleansing and purifying the fountains of human conduct. Then 
men will do right because they love righteousness. Private and 
public life, the home and the municipal office, the village and the state, 
the nation and the world will feel the power of the righteous life when 
He, the righteous King, shall reign supremely in the affairs of mem 



330 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

When this era dawns, the social and industrial institutions of to-day- 
will be modified or superseded. The relation of capital to labor will 
undergo readjustment. All forms of servitude and peonage, even such 
as an unjust capitalism is now able to exercise in a civilized community, 
will pass away. Paring down wages to the uttermost and then dis- 
tributing alms will no longer be carried on under the mask of charity, 
but the sense of a socialized justice will recognize the right of every 
man to enjoy the full fruit of his labor. Trusts may still exist, but 
the objects which they seek to obtain will be changed; factories may 
not cease as the chief instruments of production, but their manage- 
ment will be more largely humanized. Wealth may not be wholly 
dissipated, but it will be wholly consecrated; poverty may not entirely 
disappear, but its ravages will be mercifully curtailed. 

Such a condition of society can only be realized when men are willing 
to pay the price. In large measure it was paid nineteen centuries 
ago, but a part of it can only be paid by the men and women of the 
present. That price is the sacrifice of many things we commonly hold 
dear, the foregoing of many pleasures, the active investment of our- 
selves and our possessions in the work. The young man or the young 
woman who goes to the foreign field knows something of the price this 
new era will cost, and so also do the father and mother, who, after 
twenty or more years of affectionate devotion to their child, unques- 
tioningly let her turn her face to a distant and alien land. Heavy 
hearts and sleepless nights, years of toil and an unseen fruitage — these 
are a part of the price which thousands of unnamed heroes are paying 
for the advent of that day. " Come and suffer " is the invitation of 
the missionary enterprise, and in passionate loyalty thousands have 
responded and will respond, and when the price is fully paid the dawn 
will break. 

Note 4. The Possibility of its Near Realization. There are some 
striking indications that in point of time we may not be far removed 
from this era. First is the historic progress of the church with special 
reference to its extension during the past century. At present the 
membership of the church in mission lands is mounting up by leaps 
and bounds. True, the vast numbers unreached make the numbers 
of those reached seem pitiably small, but the progress of to-day com- 
pared with the progress of yesterday shows a remarkable and an in- 
creasing gain. Thus it took one hundred years for the missionaries 
of the modern movement to gain the first million converts, but it took 
only twelve years to win the second million, while the third million 
were won in the brief space of six years. No one can study this growth 



Fifty-one T j w World Kingdom of Christ 331 

and not feel that the Christian church is rapidly approaching the time 
when it will be practically world inclusive. 

In the rapidity with which men are turning to Christianity, and in 
the phenomenal evangelistic successes- of the past decade, there are 
also indications that possibly Christ's supreme rule is not far distant. 
Consider that in less than half a century after the first Protestant 
missionary entered Japan 75,000 adult Protestant communicants had 
been received. " Within twenty-five years after beginning the work 
in Korea there are 115,000 communicants; in China the number of 
Christians has increased within nine years from 100,000 to 156,000; 
everywhere the teachings of Christ are leavening society and trans- 
forming character. Over two million converts are enrolled to-day 
in all non-Christian lands, and the number added last year was 167,674, 
an average of 450 a day." Moreover there is the high probability that 
mass movements toward Christianity may yet become general in India 
or China. Should such a thing occur, we may witness the greatest 
movement toward Christianity that has ever been known. Only 
recently has it been reported that such mass movements in Travancore, 
in Tinnevelly, in the Telugu country and in North India have swept 
men away from heathenism by the hundred thousand. Such develop- 
ments are simply suggestive of what may take place if the Christian 
church is quick to follow up its opportunity in these lands where 
already it has gained good foothold. 

The national transformations referred to in Lesson 50 would also 
seem to point to the near approach of a universal Christianity. For 
a time some of the nations may attempt to adopt the form of a Chris- 
tian civilization, but unless they take more than the form their efforts 
are foredoomed to failure. 

Finally, the rapid strides that have lately been made toward the 
goal of a united Christianity would seem to have some bearing upon 
the approach of a universal Christianity. While the foreign church 
is rising new born in the strength of its undivided organization, the 
home churches are gradually sinking their minor differences and pre- 
paring for those world tasks which only a united Christianity can 
perform. If these things — a rapidly growing church, a phenomenal 
evangelism, national transformations, and the spirit of church unity — 
are rightly regarded as indicative of the possibly near approach of 
the world kingdom of Christ, where is the Christian who is not eager 
to share in so glorious an enterprise? Under such circumstances as 
these, it behooves the church to work and to pray with a new zeal 
and a new devotion, that the conquering Christ may come into His 
own. 



332 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

ADDITIONAL READING REFERENCES. 

(i) Practical steps toward making the ideal kingdom a real kingdom. 
Report of the Student Volunteer Convention, Nashville, 1906, pp. 623- 
656. (2) Jesus in the moral, social, emotional, and intellectual life 
of man. Brooks: The Influence of Jesus. (3) The missionary con- 
summation. Carver: Missions in the Plan of the Ages, pp. 253-282. 
(4) Features of the universal church. Hall: The Universal Elements 
of the Christian Religion, pp. 259-309. 

REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS. 

1. What was the topic of our last study? 2. What is the Christian 
influence on family life? 3. How have missionaries been of service to 
governments ? 4. Tell how they have aided industrial and commercial 
developments. 5. In what respect have missions modified the popular 
life of the people ? 6. What is the topic of to-day's lesson ? its object ? 

QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON. 

1. What is meant by the " world kingdom of Christ" ? (Note 2.) 



2. Where do we catch early suggestions of such a kingdom! 



3. What did the Hebrews think their relation was to such an era? 



4. Sketch the outworking of this kingdom from the time of Christ 
up to the present. 



5. How may the coming of this kingdom be hastened? (Note 3.) 



6\ How will the church then differ from the church of the present? 



Fifty-one jj w World Kingdom of Christ 333 

7. What will be the motive of right conduct? 

8. How will the industrial order be affected? 



9. What is the cost of this kingdom? Who pays the price? Are 
you paying your share? 



10. What indications are there that in point of time we may not be 
far removed from this era? (Note 4.) 



11. Do these indications seem to you to be conclusive? Why! 



QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. 

1. Is the universal reign of Christ practicable? Why? 2. Would 
there be as much philanthropy then as now? 3. How would Christ's 
world-wide dominion affect the industrial world ? 4. Are mass move- 
ments toward Christianity desirable? What is the danger that ac- 
companies them? 5. How do you think Christian unity is related to 
the world kingdom of Christ ? 

Mission Gem. " The duty of the whole church and the whole duty 
of the church is to give the whole Gospel to the whole world as speedily 
as possible." 

Personal Thought. My recent studies on the results of missions 
have abounded with illustrations of fruitful lives. Some men seem 
to have been impelled by a passion for helpful service. May such a 
passion, my Master, lay hold of my heart and drive me out into fields 
of unselfish service ! 



334 The Conquering Christ 



Lesion 



Lesson 52. WHAT CHRISTIAN MISSIONS ACCOMPLISH. 
Review of Methods and Results. 

Scripture Reading: A Call to Praise Jehovah. Pss. 96, 97. 

Note 1. Object of the Lesson. To present a summary of the preced- 
ing twelve lessons, and to draw therefrom certain conclusions as to the 
function of the Faith, and the methods and results of the missionary 
enterprise. 

THE LESSON UNFOLDED. 

Note 2. Missionary Practice and the Christian Conquest. In the 
last twelve studies emphasis has been laid upon the relation of the 
missionary task to the final realization of a Christian world. The 
primary function of the church, that it should reproduce itself through 
the planting of other churches, is being exercised to-day as never 
before. The Gospel has proved again and again the only adequate 
remedy for the attendant evils of heathenism. The message from the 
lips of missionaries has had to overcome much of racial pride in the 
hearers, much of self-content, of sinful tendency and habits of a life- 
time. Yet two million converts to-day affirm that success has crowned 
these efforts. In the work of world evangelization, medical missions 
have been of genuine value, and the training of natives as competent 
physicians to their own people has elicited heartiest praise in hundreds 
of cities and villages throughout China, Korea, India, and the Moslem 
world. While the medical missions constitute a typical exemplifica- 
tion of the humanitarian spirit of Christianity, they have ever been 
powerful evangelistic agencies, winning many natives who in turn 
have become evangelists of striking resource and power. Similarly, 
educational work has been found of great service in the missionary 
enterprise. By teaching the common people to read, it has opened 
to them a field of Christian literature otherwise closed. It has also 
developed a more intelligent type of Christian, laying the foundation 
for future expansion of the work by native helpers, and the final 
establishment of a native church free of foreign control. Provision 
has also been made for training the hand as well as the heart and the 
head. Knowledge of trades and of agriculture is a necessity among 
converts in most mission fields, for the old life does not possess social 
and industrial materials which the new life can employ. Idol makers 
must give up making idols, priestesses must give up praying for others 
as a commercial venture, and those who break caste by becoming 
Christians can no longer ply their trades, nor find a market for their 
wares. Here, then, the industrial mission has its great value, sup- 
plementing the evangelical work and in large measure commending it. 



Fifty-two What Christian Missions Accomplish 335 

Education also contributes to the religious consciousness of the com- 
munity as a whole, for in most of the schools the Bible itself is a text- 
book the teaching of which imparts a general knowledge of Christian 
truth and in multitudes of instances results in the conversion of the 
student. 

This vast and complex enterprise involves the organization of mis- 
sionary societies, frequently denominational in character, which un- 
dertake the gathering of funds at home and the judicious expenditure 
of those funds abroad. This work is carried on with commendable 
economy and business ability by the boards, and with splendid and 
heroic sacrifice by thousands of missionaries. The missionary project 
has led the churches of Christendom, noticeably those on the foreign 
fields, to minimize their differences and to unite in emphasis upon their 
common faith. The idea of Christian unity at home has received a. 
new impetus, and instances are rapidly multiplying in which one- 
time opposing forces are being drawn together for larger efficiency. A 
new sense of Christian brotherhood is expressing itself in interdenomi- 
national movements, of which the Laymen's Missionary Movement, 
Young People's Missionary Movement, and the Student Volunteer 
Movement are instances. 

Missions have also contributed largely to science, especially in the 
fields of philology, lexicography, botany and zoology. A more im- 
portant result, and of a vastly different type, is the reflex influence of 
missionary endeavor upon the home churches. Interest in missions 
has often preceded a renewal of the general spiritual activities of the 
church. ' Larger tasks have been undertaken, and the devotional life 
has been deepened. Still other fruits of missions are evident on the 
field. Conversion from the ideals and customs of pagan society to 
those of Christian society has attended the work. It is this individual 
transformation, repeated in thousands of lives, which, more than any 
other result, repays the total expense of the enterprise. The preach- 
ing of the new faith is also proving a mighty power in lifting non- 
Christian peoples into a higher moral life. A still more significant 
result of missions is seen in the molding of national destinies and in 
the gradual realization of the world kingdom of Christ. 

Note 3. The Function of Christianity. From the day of Pentecost 
the primary function of the church has been to spread the Gospel both 
as a message and as a life. Beyond this, no task has ever been com- 
mitted to the church by her Lord. Though in fulfilment of this task 
the church may undertake many subsidiary enterprises, such as the 
establishment of colleges or the maintenance of hospitals, these can 
never in themselves become the function of the church. In fulfilment 



336 The Conquering Christ Lesson 

of this function the church, from its first establishment, has been a 
missionary institution ; the non-missionary church has no place in the 
world. When a church takes no part in the propagation of the faith, 
it may well be questioned whether it has a faith to propagate. This 
function of the church was indicated by Christ's estimate of His work. 
He conceived of His mission as vitally related to the redemption of 
mankind, and He thought of the world as a kingdom to be under His 
spiritual rule. Both of these conceptions look forward to a world 
which finally will be at peace with itself and with its Creator — a world 
in which all nations shall gladly yield allegiance to the one pure faith, 
and bow their hearts before their common Lord. Until that day 
arrives the church will not have fulfilled its function, but when it does 
arrive, then shall be brought to pass the saying, " He shall see of the 
travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." 

Note 4. Methods and Results of Missions. Missions have been 
undertaken in the past by individuals and groups rather than by 
the whole church. The breaking up of Christendom into numerous 
churches and sects has, by preventing united effort, stood in the way 
of the largest efficiency. This comparative inefficiency of present 
methods has been so emphasized by the developments of the missionary 
enterprise as to create a widespread demand for a method broad 
enough, big enough, and inclusive enough adequately to sustain the 
work. Present agencies may be retained, but they will become more 
closely united, as befits representatives of a united Christianity. The 
day of vast projects is with us. A world-wide Christendom means 
more than a united Protestantism. It looks forward to the union of 
Romanist, Greek, Anglican and Protestant — a union beset no doubt 
with seemingly insurmountable difficulties, but which may possibly 
be realized within a not remote future. What the fathers dare not 
hazard the sons may successfully undertake. With the new vigor 
and the quickened impulse of a united Christianity, the problem of 
preaching the Gospel to every section of the world ' ' within this genera- 
tion " would be a problem which the church could confront with a 
courage, a hopefulness and a sure sense of victory such as have never 
yet mastered her forces. 

If the coming method of missions is to be a great Christian propa- 
ganda by the entire Christian church, the result will be commensurate 
with the method. We shall cease to hear of converts numbered by 
the score or by the hundreds ; they will be numbered by the thousands, 
and by the tens of thousands. Nations in a day will turn with glad 
submission to Jesus Christ as Lord and as Redeemer. A thousand 



Fifty-two What Christian Missions Accomplish 337 

hills and valleys will echo the praises of reborn hosts, and a race once 
lost will enter with joy into the household of faith. 

" Tidings sent to every creature 

Millions yet have never heard : 
Can they hear without a preacher? 

Lord Almighty, give the word! 
Give the word! in every nation 

Let the Gospel trumpet sound, 
Witnessing a world's salvation 

To the earth's remotest bound." 

Suggestions for Class Discussion. 

1. Whether missionary successes justify the anticipation of an 
ultimately Christian world. 

2. Features of Christianity which make it a transforming power. 

3. How the educational work of missions has developed the native 
intellectual life. 

4. The extent to which missionary managements practise reasonable 
business economy. 

5. Respects in which missions have promoted the movement toward 
church unity (z) on the foreign field, (2) at home. 

6. The nature and extent of the reflex influence of missions upon 
the home church. 

7. How the popular moral codes of non-Christian lands have been 
affected by missions. 

8. Extent to which the Oriental awakening is due to missions. 

9. Whether the function of the Christian church is anything other 
than missionary. 

10. Respects in which a universal Christian unity at present seems 
beset with practical difficulties. 

11. How a united Christianity would increase the effectiveness of 
missions. 

Mission Gem. " Those who have been joined together in the 
vision of common truth can never again lapse contentedly into former 
beliefs touching the finality of sectarian distinctions. They have seen 
the splendid outlines of a greater church, and, forevermore, must 
move towards it, in heart and mind." — Charles Cuthbert Hall. 

Personal Thought. This course of studies on the spread of the 
Christian church has given me an intimate knowledge of strange 
people and unfamiliar scenes. My sympathies have been quickened, 
my intellectual horizon has been broadened, and I now have a knowl- 
edge of the world's needs and of a Christian's opportunities such as 
I have never before possessed. In view of these facts, what should the 
future mean to me? Can I, dare I be content unless I am in the ranks 
of those who serve? " Emotion is no substitute for action." 



Appendix: Glossary of Unusual Terms 



GLOSSARY OF THE MORE UNUSUAL TERMS USED IN 
THE LESSONS. 



Agnosticism. The doctrine held by 
agnostics, i. e., those who affirm that 
the being of God and the ultimate nature 
of things are unknown or unknowable, 
and that therefore nothing can be af- 
firmed or denied concerning them. 

Animist. A believer in animism, 
one of the lower forms of religion, which 
regards all material objects, rocks, 
trees, etc., as possessing souls, in the 
same manner as the human body pos- 
sesses a soul. 

Asceticism. The control or suppres- 
sion of bodily desires by fasting, poverty, 
celibacy, solitude, or other forms of self- 
discipline, practised in the hope of at- 
taining a higher sanctity. 

Atheism. See " Theism." 

Atheist. One who professes atheism. 
See " Theism." 

Bull. An official and authoritative 
edict, decree, or decision, issued by the 
pope. It is so called from the leaden 
seal, or bulla, which is attached to the 
document by a short cord, and which 
bears on one side the name of the pope 
and on the other the faces of the Apostles 
Peter and Paul. 

Charm. Any material object sup- 
posed to possess magical power to ward 
off evil or to procure good. 

Cult. A body of religious beliefs, in- 
cluding the expression of those beliefs 
in rites and ceremonies. 

Dhammapada. " Footsteps of Truth," 
a collection of the sayings of Gautama, 
noted for their richness and beauty 

Dynamic. A term borrowed from 
physical science to express a moral or 
social force; a motive, stimulus, or in- 
centive, capable of initiating moral or 
social movements. 

Eastern Church. See" Greek Church." 

Environment. The sum total of things 
and conditions by which an organism 
is surrounded. 

Esoteric. Private or secret, applied 
to teachings imparted to the initiated 
only and not to the public. 

Ethics. " The science of right con- 
duct and character; the science which 
treats of the nature and grounds of 
moral obligation and of the rules which 
ought to determine conduct in accord- 
ance with this obligation." — Century 
Did. See " Morality." 

Evangelical. In harmony with the 
evangel, or Gospel, as presented in the 
New Testament. " Specifically applied 



to a section of the Protestant churches 
who profess to base their principles on 
Scripture alone, and who give distinctive 
prominence to such doctrines as the 
corruption of man's nature by the fall, 
atonement by the life, sufferings and 
death of Christ, justification by faith 
in Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit 
in conversion and sanctification, and 
the divine exercise of free and unmerited 
grace." — Century Diet. 

Fatalism. The doctrine that every- 
thing which takes place is so foreor- 
dained by immutable decrees that no 
human effort and no change of condi- 
tions can prevent it. 

Fetichism. The belief that an animal, 
a tree, a stone, or any other material 
object may represent or be occupied by 
an impersonal power capable of control- 
ing events for good or ill. The object 
reverenced or worshiped on account of 
such supernatural power is called a 
fetich. 

Formalism. The attaching of ex- 
cessive value to religious forms, cere- 
monies, and rituals, commonly in the 
belief that such outward observances 
form an acceptable substitute for in- 
ward godliness. (Comp. Mt. 23:23.) 

Greek Church. In the ninth century 
a.d. the Catholic church split into the 
Greek and Roman. The former em- 
braced the Eastern or Greek portion of 
the Roman empire, and the latter the 
Western or Latin portion. Hence the 
two sections are also known as the 
Eastern church and the Western church. 
The Greek, or Eastern church, is now 
the dominant form of Christianity in 
Greece, European Turkey, Roumelia, 
Bulgaria, Servia, Roumania, Russia, 
and parts of Austria and Hungary. The 
Roman, or Western church, is that in 
all lands which acknowledges the su- 
premacy of the pope in Rome. 

Heathen. Any adherent of a religion 
which does not recognize the God of 
Christianity, Judaism, or Mohammed- 
anism. The modern usage makes it 
synonymous with pagan. 

Hierarchy. An organized body of 
officials who have assumed or been 
entrusted with authority to govern a 
church; as the Roman Catholic hier- 
archy, composed of priests, bishops, 
archbishops, cardinals, etc., culminating 
in the pope. 

Mariolatry. The worship offered by 
Roman Catholics to Mary, the mother of 
Jesus. 



Appendix: Glossary of Unusual Terms 



Materialism. A theory which, deny- 
ing the existence and operation of spirit- 
ual agencies, reduces man and the uni- 
verse to a manifestation of mere matter 
and force. 

Metaphysics. Physics is the science 
which treats of those outward laws and 
properties of things which lie within the 
range of human observation, and which 
can be studied, tested, measured and 
utilized, such as weight, heat, light, 
magnetism, electricity, etc. Metaphys- 
ics, on the contrary, is the science 
which treats of those inward and essen- 
tial principles which lie behind all forms 
of being, but which transcend human 
observation, such as reality, substance, 
time, space, cause, becoming, change, 
identity, difference, etc. 

Monotheism. See " Theism." 

Monotheistic. Pertaining to mono- 
theism. See " Theism." 

Morality. Right conduct of man 
toward man; morality is the putting 
into actual practice of those principles 
and rules of conduct which rest on moral 
obligation. 

Nature-worship. That phase of re- 
ligion in which natural objects, such as 
animals, trees, stones, etc., are regarded 
and worshiped as gods. 

Nirvana. Literally a " blowing out," 
as of light. The state of Buddhist per- 
fection, variously understood as a com- 
plete extinction of existence, or merely 
extinction of desire, passion, unrest, etc. 

Occult. Hidden, mysterious, visible 
only to spiritual sight; opposed to mani- 
fest, or visible by natural sight. Oc- 
cultism is the doctrine or practice of 
occult sciences especially theosophy, 
" as claiming a divine illumination, and 
a supersensitiveness to mental and 
spiritual impressions." See " Theoso- 
phy." 

Pagoda. A Buddhist shrine, usually 
in the form of a tower or shaped like an 
inverted top. 

Pantheism. See " Theism." 

Pantheon. All the deities of a people 
taken collectively. 

Patron Deity. A god invoked as the 
special protector or guardian of an in- 
dividual, city, country, or cause. 

Philosophy. A discussion of those 



fundamental principles, laws, and causes 
which are supposed to explain the uni- 
verse and man in his relation to God. 

Polytheism. See " Theism." 

Polytheist. A believer in polytheism. 
See "Theism." 

Propaganda. An organized move- 
ment for winning converts to a religious 
faith or body of doctrines. 

Ritual. " A prescribed form or meth- 
od for the performance of a religious 
or solemn ceremony; any form or body 
of rites and ceremonies." — Standard 
Did. 

Roman Church. See " Greek Church." 

Sect. A religious body that has sep- 
arated itself from a larger or older body 
on grounds of belief or practice; an 
organized body of dissenters from a 
national or established religion. 

Solidarity. Identity in nature and 
interests, as of the human race as a 
whole, or any class or community. 

Tenet. From teneo, " I hold "; hence 
any belief, opinion, or doctrine held as 
true by an individual or a religious body. 

Th ism. A belief in the existence and 
personality of a God who is the Creator, 
Upholder, and Ruler of the universe. 
Atheism is a denial of the existence of 
God. Monotheism is a belief in the ex- 
istence of one God only. Polytheism 
is a belief in the existence of more gods 
than one. Pantheism is that belief 
which identifies God with the universe, 
or which holds that God is the substance 
of which mind and matter are only 
manifestations. 

Theosophy. " A philosophy based 
upon a claim of special insight into the 
divine nature, or a special divine revela- 
tion. It differs from most philosophical 
systems in that they start from phe- 
nomena, and deduce therefrom certain 
conclusions concerning God; whereas 
theosophy starts with an assumed 
knowledge of God, directly obtained, 
through spiritual intercommunion, and 
proceeds therefrom to a study and ex- 
planation of phenomena." — Century 
Did. See " Occult." 

Universalism. The belief in the final 
recovery of all men from sin and suffer- 
ing and their restoration to fellowship 
with God. 



U 



The Six Year Series 

These lessons divide the Bible into three parts for study, namely: 
The Old Testament; the Gospels; and the Acts and Epistles; and 
take up each of these parts a year at a time in succession. They 
also divide the material in each of these parts into two classes, 
Biographical and Historical, making three series of each, as follov/s: 

BIOGRAPHICAL 

Presenting the more important personal elements of 
the entire Scripture narrative, chronologically arranged. 
Lessons on the same subject throughout the school. 

1. THE PATRIARCHS, KINGS AND PROPHETS SERIES 

The lives of the twenty-two men most prominent for good in the history of 
ancient Israel, from Abraham to Nehemiah. 

2. THE LIFE OF CHRIST SERIES 

The story of our Lord's life from His birth to His ascension. 

3. THE APOSTOLIC LEADERS SERIES 

The lives and work of the six leaders of the Apostolic Church — Peter. Johp- 
Philip, Stephen, Barnabas and Paul. 

HISTORICAL 



Presenting a comprehensive and connected outline 
view of Biblical history from Genesis to Revelation. 
Lessons for each department on the same subject. 

4. THE OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY SERIES 

The preparation of the world for Christ, as seen in the history of the Chosen 
People. 

5. THE GOSPEL HISTORY SERIES 

Christ's work on earth as seen in the founding and establishing of His kingdom. 

6. THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH HISTORY SERIES 

The result of Christ's work, as seen in the planting and growth of the Apos- 
tolic Church. Including a study of the entire New Testament literature. 

Courses, Grades, Etc. 

Each of these series is divided into four courses, one each for the 
Primary, Junior, Young People's and Adult Departments. Each series 
has seven grades and three teachers' Helpers, thus affording a gradation 
of both material and methods ample for the needs of most schools. 



All of these series are kept constantly in stock. As they are undated, they 
can be taken up at any time. They form a system of graded Bible 
study which by actual use has proven effective in giving young people in 
the ordinary years of Sunday school life a familiar acquaintance with the 
Bible as a whole, thus laying a foundation for that character building and 
spiritual training which is the aim of the Sunday school. 



Free samples from any series sent upon request. Please state the a£es 

of the scholars for whom you desire specimen lessons* and 

what series you would like to examine. 

BIBLE STUDY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

2SO DEVONSHIRE STREET. BOSTON 



THE BIBLE STUDY UNION (BLAKESLEE) LESSONS 

The Completely Graded Series 

The Full Curriculum 

when complete will provide special courses for pupils between the 
ages of four and twenty-one, optional courses for the last four years 
and a number of elective courses for adults, as follows (courses ready 
for 1910 and 1911 being indicated by an *): 

/. Beginners. 2 Years. 
Courses to be announced. 
//. Primary. 3 Years. Ages 6-8. 

Aim. To awaken love and trust, and cultivate habits of obedience. 
First Year. God the Loving Father Preparing a Home for His Children. 
Second Year. *God's Loyal Children. Learning to Live Happily 

Together. ( Now ready.) 
Third Year. *Jesus' Way of Love and Service. 

///. Junior. 4 Years. Ages 9-12. 

Aim. To lead to a desire for God's control in life, by Bible study. Constructing 
the Junior Bible as follows: 

First Year. Part I. *Early Heroes and Heroines. {Now ready.) 
Second Year. Part II. *Kings and Prophets. {Ready in October, 1910.) 
Third Year. Part III. Life and Words of Jesus. 
Fourth Year. Part IV. Christian Apostles and Missionaries. 
IV. Intermediate. 4 Years. Ages 13-16. 

Aim. To bring the adolescent into vital and personal relations with Christ and 
the church. 

First Year. *Heroes of the Faith. (Now ready.) 
Second Year. ^Christian Conduct. 
Third Year. Records of the Faith. 
Fourth Year. The Life of Jesus. 

V. Senior. 4 Years. Ages 19-21. 

(For Aims of Groups A and B, see booklet, "The Completely Graded Series.") 
Elective Group Jk. The Development of Christianity. 
First Year. *Early Preparations for Christianity. 
Second Year. History of Christianity. 
Third Year. *The Conquering Christ. ( Now ready.) 
Fourth Year. The Modern Church. 

Elective Group B. Biblical History. 
First Year. *Heroes & Crises of Early Hebrew History. ( Now ready.) 
Second Year. ^Founders & Rulers of United Israel. {Ready Sept., 1910.) 
Third Year. Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah. 
Fourth Year. Leaders and Teachers of Post-exilic Judaism. 

VI. Adult. 

New elective courses aiming to develop normal, intelligent, fnithful 
and efficient Christian character, will be announced in the near future. 

Send post card for free samples of any grade in which you are interested. 
Our booklet, THE COMPLETELY GRADED SERIES, describ- 
ing the work for the whole course, will be sent free upon request. 

Pitile g>tttbp $ufcltsf)tng Company ^ZTmlis 5 *- 



Heroes of the Faith 

By Herbert Wright Gates 



A Course of Forty-eight Lessons for Intermediate Pupils. 



Abraham. 

David Livingstone. 

Moses. 

John Howard. 

Florence Nightingale. 

Guido F. Verbeck. 

Elijah. 

Amos. 

Jeremiah. 

John Wyclif. 

Girolamo Savonarola. 

Martin Luther. 

Gaspard de Coligny. 

John Knox. 

Paul. 

John Eliot. 

William Carey. 

Adoniram Judson. 

Marcus Whitman. 

William Taylor. 

John G. Paton. 

Jonathan. 

Esther. 

Judas Maccabeus. 

Chinese Gordon. 

William Penn. 

George T. Angell. 

Frances E. Willard. 

Everyday Heroes. 



Experience has shown that at about 
the age of thirteen a radical change 
in the subject studied is of great ad- 
vantage in securing a sustained in- 
terest. Boys and girls will return to 
the study of the Bible with fresh in- 
terest if they pause here to study the 
working of Biblical principles in other 
lives than those included in the Bib- 
lical records. 

The HEROES OF THE FAITH 

has been constructed in view of this 
need. Its purpose is, by brief sketches 
of heroic and grandly religious char- 
acters, to kindle in the pupil the 
spirit by which these men and women 
were animated, and to encourage its 
expression in similar virtues and deeds. 

A constant effort is made in these 
studies to bring the heroic down to 
everyday life, rather than to exalt it 
beyond the reach of common men. 
The lessons aim to impress the possi- 
bility and need of heroism in any 
kind of situation — in the home or 
school, on the street or the play- 
ground. 

Send postal to-day for free sample 

lessons and examine yourself 

these interesting studies 



l&iUt g>tubp iPufcltefnng Company 



250 Devonshire Street 



Boston, Mass. 



Preparations for Christianity 

For Senior Young People and Adults 

A course of study surveying those religious ideas and ideals 
which progressively served as a preparation for Christianity, 
and finally received their fullest expression and realization in 
the life and teachings of Jesus. 

The course begins with a sketch of the old Semitic world, 

of which the Hebrew people constituted a part, traces the 

rise and development of characteristic features of the religion 

of Israel, and concludes with a review of the fundamental 

religious teachings of Jesus. 

The course is divided into four parts. Each deals with a specific 
period of historical and religious development. 

Part I describes the religions of ancient Egypt, Babylon, and Pales- 
tine (as introductory to the Biblical records of Israel's faith), primitive 
forms of Hebrew worship, the influence of the Exodus upon Israel's reli- 
gious life, the early religious literature of the Hebrews, and concludes 
with a study of the religious aspects of David's career. 

Part II begins with a study of Solomon's institution of the temple 
service, notes the character of the religious life of Israel during the 
period of the Divided Kingdom, and examines the religious content of 
the earlier prophetic utterances, carrying the course forward to the time 
of the Exile. 

Part III covers the religious developments of the Exilic and Post- 
exilic periods, special attention being given to the later prophetic 
writings, the establishment of Judaism under priestly auspices, and the 
religious temper of Israel under the Maccabees. 

Part IV shows how the religious ideas developed in the Old Testa- 
ment period were enlarged and spiritualized in the teachings of Jesus. 

Longer and Shorter Course. The course is complete in fifty-two 
lessons, but two six months' courses composed of Parts I and II and 
Parts III and IV are eminently practicable, while Parts I, II, and III 
make an appropriate nine months' course. Part IV is so fcased upon 
Part III that it cannot be studied to the best advantage without a 
previous study of the latter. 



First Quarter ready in October 1910. Send postal to-day for free 
sample lessons. u 



ptble g>tubp ^ubltsrtjmg Company 



250 Devonshire St. 
Boston, Mass. 



THE BIBLE STUDY UNION (BLAKESLEE) 
GRADED LESSONS 



EVERY TEACHER 

Using- these lessons 
should have 

1^£ Senior Teacher 



Prepared expressly to accompany 
THE CONQUERING CHRIST 




HIS publication is necessary for a 
proper teaching of the lessons. It 
gives a summary of the lesson mater- 
ial in the scholar's book, additional 
information on the lesson topic, 
" Heart Truths" to point out the 
spiritual meaning of the lessons, vivid word pic- 
tures illustrating the topic, definite instructions for 
guiding the class discussion and assigning the 
lessons, and directions for notebook work. A full 
list of exhibit material is provided for each lesson. 

Issued quarterly: PRICE, postpaid, 15 cents per 
quarter, 60 cents per year. Free sample lessons 
from the Senior Teacher sent upon request. 

BIBLE STUDY PUBLISHING COMPANY 

250 Devonshire Street, Boston, Mass. 



OCT 



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